1975–76 Portland Trail Blazers season

The 1975–76 season was the sixth season of the Portland Trail Blazers in the National Basketball Association (NBA).[1] The Blazers finished at 37–45, one game shy of their franchise high from the previous year. Despite finishing with a better record than the Detroit Pistons of the Midwest Division, the Pistons made the playoffs and the Blazers did not.

1975–76 Portland Trail Blazers season
Head coachLenny Wilkens
General managerHarry Glickman
Owner(s)Larry Weinberg
ArenaMemorial Coliseum
Results
Record37–45 (.451)
PlaceDivision: 5th (Pacific)
Conference: 7th (Western)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionKOIN
RadioKOIN

Draft picks
Lionel Hollins was the sixth pick overall in the 1975 NBA draft.
Main article: 1975 NBA draft

Note: This is not a complete list; only the first two rounds are covered, as well as any other picks by the franchise who played at least one NBA game.

Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club Team
1 6 Lionel Hollins G  United States Arizona State
2 25 Bob Gross G/F  United States Long Beach State
3 50 Gus Gerard G/F  United States Spirits of St. Louis (ABA)
4 61 Phil Hicks F  United States Tulane

Roster
1975–76 Portland Trail Blazers roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOBFrom
G 33 Anderson, Dan 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) USC
F 40 Clemens, Barry 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Ohio Wesleyan
SF 30 Gross, Bob 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Long Beach State
C 10 Hawes, Steve 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Washington
G 14 Hollins, Lionel 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Arizona State
F 36 Neal, Lloyd 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Tennessee State
SG 45 Petrie, Geoff 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Princeton
F 15 Steele, Larry 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Kentucky
C 32 Walton, Bill 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 210 lb (95 kg) UCLA
PF 21 Wicks, Sidney 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) UCLA
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Regular season
The Trail Blazers played their home games at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

October

Three of the first four games of the 1975–76 season for the Trail Blazers were played on the road. It proved to be a stiff opening test for the team, as they lost all three road games handily, and narrowly missed beating the Phoenix Suns in the lone home game of the opening month.[2]

The opening game of the season was a visit to Seattle to face the SuperSonics on October 24. The Blazers started out well, leading 28–24 after the first quarter. However, by halftime Seattle was leading 57–53. The Blazers came back and made it a one-point game by the start of the fourth quarter, but Seattle pulled away, winning the fourth quarter by a 27–20 margin, and thus the game, 105–97. Geoff Petrie led the Blazers with 25 points, and Sidney Wicks added 20. Lloyd Neal fouled out after amassing 6 fouls to go along with 15 points. The Blazers' record: 0–1. For the SuperSonics, the leaders were Fred Brown with 29 points, and Slick Watts with 17. The game was played in front of a crowd of 13,601.[3]

Portland were home the following evening to face the Phoenix Suns, on October 25. The Blazers blew an 11-point lead they had amassed after the first three-quarters, as the Suns dominated the final quarter, 26–12, to take the game by a final score of 89–88. It was a tough way to start the home portion of the season's schedule, and it would take a little more 'killer instinct' if they wanted to finish off teams and progress in the direction towards success. Bill Walton led the Blazers with 33 points, and Sidney Wicks chipped in 21. The Suns were guided by Paul Westphal's 17 points, while Nate Hawthorne and Alvin Adams contributed 14. Mike Bantom fouled out for Phoenix after failing to sink a single basket. This contest was played in front of a crowd of 11,274 incredibly disappointed partisans. The Blazers dropped to 0–2, while the Suns went to 1–0.[4]

Season standings
Pacific Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Division
y-Golden State Warriors 5923.720–36–523–1817–9
x-Seattle SuperSonics 4339.5241631–1012–2912–14
x-Phoenix Suns 4240.5121727–1415–2615–11
Los Angeles Lakers 4042.4881931–119–3110–16
Portland Trail Blazers 3745.4512225–1512–3011–15
#
Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Golden State Warriors5923.720–
2 x-Seattle SuperSonics4339.52416
3 x-Phoenix Suns4240.51217
4 y-Milwaukee Bucks3844.46321
5 x-Detroit Pistons3646.43923
6 Los Angeles Lakers4042.48819
7 Portland Trail Blazers3745.45122
8 Kansas City Kings3151.37828
9 Chicago Bulls2458.29335
z – clinched division title
y – clinched division title
x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents
1975–76 NBA Records
Team ATL BOS BUF CHI CLE DET GSW HOU KCK LAL MIL NOJ NYK PHI PHO POR SEA WAS
Atlanta –2–32–32–22–51–32–22–52–21–32–22–43–22–30–42–21–31–5
Boston 3–2–4–32–23–24–02–24–12–24–02–24–15–24–34–02–22–23–2
Buffalo 3–23–4–3–13–21–31–33–24–02–23–14–14–33–43–12–22–22–3
Chicago 2–22–21–3–0–43–41–41–31–63–23–42–20–40–42–31–42–30–4
Cleveland 5–22–32–34–0–2–21–32–41–32–24–04–33–23–23–14–03–14–2
Detroit 3–10–43–14–32–2–0–52–25–21–43–41–33–11–31–42–33–22–2
Golden State 2–22–23–14–13–15–0–2–24–15–25–02–24–03–14–24–24–33–1
Houston 5–21–42–33–14–22–22–2–2–21–32–22–43–23–20–43–12–23–4
Kansas City 2–22–20–46–13–12–51–42–2–2–32–51–31–31–33–20–52–31–3
Los Angeles 3–10–42–22–32–24–12–53–13–2–2–33–13–12–22–43–43–31–3
Milwaukee 2–22–21–34–30–44–30–52–25–23–2–2–22–22–23–22–32–32–2
New Orleans 4–21–41–42–23–43–12–24–23–11–32–2–2–31–41–33–11–34–3
New York 2–32–53–44–02–31–30–42–33–11–32–23–2–5–22–23–10–43–2
Philadelphia 3–23–44–34–02–33–11–32–33–12–22–24–12–5–3–14–02–22–3
Phoenix 4–00–41–33–21–34–12–44–02–34–22–33–12–21–3–5–24–30–4
Portland 2–22–22–24–10–43–22–41–35–04–33–21–31–30–42–5–3–32–2
Seattle 3–12–22–23–21–32–33–42–23–23–33–23–14–02–23–43–3–1–3
Washington 5–12–33–24–02–42–21–34–33–13–12–23–42–33–24–02–23–1—

Awards and honors

References
  1. "1975–76 Portland Trail Blazers". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  2. "1975-76 Portland Trail Blazers Schedule and Results". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  3. "Portland Trail Blazers at Seattle SuperSonics Box Score, October 24, 1975". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  4. "Phoenix Suns at Portland Trail Blazers Box Score, October 25, 1975". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
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