The 1975–76 Golden State Warriors season was the 31st season of NBA basketball in Oakland, California Coming off their NBA Championship, the Warriors finished with a then-franchise-best 59–23 record.[1] The Warriors would however lose in the Western Conference finals to the upstart Phoenix Suns, four games to three. The Warriors’ franchise-best regular-season record would be surpassed when the team won the 2014–15 championship, but in between the Warriors would play thirty-eight seasons without even reaching the conference finals, the fourth-longest such drought in NBA history.
See main article: 1975 NBA draft.
Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 14 | F | La Salle | |||
2 | 20 | G | USC | |||
3 | 40 | F | Stetson | |||
3 | 51 | G | Illinois State | |||
4 | 69 | F | La Salle | |||
5 | 87 | Washington | ||||
6 | 105 | San Francisco | ||||
7 | 123 | F | Wyoming | |||
8 | 141 | St. Mary's (CA) | ||||
9 | 157 | Stanford | ||||
10 | 171 | St. Mary's (CA) |
1975–76 NBA Records | |||||||||||||||||||
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width=100 | Team | ATL | BOS | BUF | CHI | CLE | DET | GSW | HOU | KCK | LAL | MIL | NOJ | NYK | PHI | PHO | POR | SEA | WAS |
Atlanta | — | 2–3 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 2–5 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 2–5 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 2–4 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 0–4 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–5 | |
Boston | 3–2 | — | 4–3 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 5–2 | 4–3 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 3–2 | |
Buffalo | 3–2 | 3–4 | — | 3–1 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 4–3 | 3–4 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–3 | |
Chicago | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–3 | — | 0–4 | 3–4 | 1–4 | 1–3 | 1–6 | 3–2 | 3–4 | 2–2 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 2–3 | 1–4 | 2–3 | 0–4 | |
Cleveland | 5–2 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 4–0 | — | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–4 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 4–3 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 4–2 | |
Detroit | 3–1 | 0–4 | 3–1 | 4–3 | 2–2 | — | 0–5 | 2–2 | 5–2 | 1–4 | 3–4 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 1–4 | 2–3 | 3–2 | 2–2 | |
Golden State | 2–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 5–0 | — | 2–2 | 4–1 | 5–2 | 5–0 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 4–3 | 3–1 | |
Houston | 5–2 | 1–4 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 | — | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 2–4 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 0–4 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–4 | |
Kansas City | 2–2 | 2–2 | 0–4 | 6–1 | 3–1 | 2–5 | 1–4 | 2–2 | — | 2–3 | 2–5 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 0–5 | 2–3 | 1–3 | |
Los Angeles | 3–1 | 0–4 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 2–5 | 3–1 | 3–2 | — | 2–3 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–4 | 3–4 | 3–3 | 1–3 | |
Milwaukee | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 4–3 | 0–4 | 4–3 | 0–5 | 2–2 | 5–2 | 3–2 | — | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 2–2 | |
New Orleans | 4–2 | 1–4 | 1–4 | 2–2 | 3–4 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | — | 2–3 | 1–4 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 4–3 | |
New York | 2–3 | 2–5 | 3–4 | 4–0 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 0–4 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 3–2 | — | 5–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–4 | 3–2 | |
Philadelphia | 3–2 | 3–4 | 4–3 | 4–0 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 2–5 | — | 3–1 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 2–3 | |
Phoenix | 4–0 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 4–1 | 2–4 | 4–0 | 2–3 | 4–2 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | — | 5–2 | 4–3 | 0–4 | |
Portland | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 0–4 | 3–2 | 2–4 | 1–3 | 5–0 | 4–3 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 0–4 | 2–5 | — | 3–3 | 2–2 | |
Seattle | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 3–4 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 3–3 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 3–4 | 3–3 | — | 1–3 | |
Washington | 5–1 | 2–3 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 4–3 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–4 | 2–3 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | — |
In the playoffs, the Warriors returned to the Western Conference finals by beating the Detroit Pistons in 6 games. In the Western Finals, the Warriors faced the Phoenix Suns. The Warriors had a 2 games to 1 lead. Game 4 went in overtime and the Warriors were unable to grab a 3–1 series lead. The Suns would rally to win the game 133–129. The Warriors would bounce back to take Game 5, but the Suns would win Games 6 & 7 to stun the defending Champions.[1]
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"| 1| April 20| Detroit| W 127–103| Phil Smith (26)| Clifford Ray (12)| Rick Barry (14)| Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena
13,067| 1–0|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"| 2| April 22| Detroit| L 111–123| Rick Barry (27)| Clifford Ray (12)| Rick Barry (8)| Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena
13,067| 1–1|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"| 3| April 24| @ Detroit| W 113–96| Phil Smith (34)| Jamaal Wilkes (18)| Rick Barry (10)| Cobo Arena
10,022| 2–1|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"| 4| April 26| @ Detroit| L 102–106| Phil Smith (31)| Clifford Ray (8)| Rick Barry (6)| Cobo Arena
11,389| 2–2|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"| 5| April 28| Detroit| W 128–109| Phil Smith (28)| Clifford Ray (14)| Rick Barry (11)| Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena
13,067| 3–2|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"| 6| April 30| @ Detroit| W 118–116 (OT)| Phil Smith (37)| three players tied (8)| Phil Smith (7)| Cobo Arena
10,361| 4–2|-|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"| 1| May 2| Phoenix| W 128–103| Rick Barry (38)| Clifford Ray (11)| Gus Williams (6)| Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena
12,475| 1–0|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"| 2| May 5| Phoenix| L 101–108| Rick Barry (44)| George Johnson (11)| Rick Barry (4)| Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena
13,067| 1–1|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"| 3| May 7| @ Phoenix| W 99–91| Jamaal Wilkes (22)| Rick Barry (7)| Barry, Smith (6)| Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
13,306| 2–1|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"| 4| May 9| @ Phoenix| L 129–133 (2OT)| Phil Smith (30)| Jamaal Wilkes (14)| Phil Smith (8)| Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
12,884| 2–2|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"| 5| May 12| Phoenix| W 111–95| Phil Smith (25)| Clifford Ray (16)| Phil Smith (6)| Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena
13,067| 3–2|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"| 6| May 14| @ Phoenix| L 104–105| Rick Barry (30)| Clifford Ray (12)| Barry, Smith (6)| Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
13,396| 3–3|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"| 7| May 16| Phoenix| L 86–94| Rick Barry (20)| Wilkes, Ray (13)| Phil Smith (6)| Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena
13,067| 3–4|-