1975–76 Detroit Pistons season

The 1975–76 NBA season was the Detroit Pistons' 28th season in the NBA and 19th season in the city of Detroit.[1] The team played at Cobo Arena in downtown Detroit.

1975–76 Detroit Pistons season
Head coach
General managerOscar Feldman
Owner(s)Bill Davidson
ArenaCobo Center
Results
Record36–46 (.439)
PlaceDivision: 2nd (Midwest)
Conference: 5th (Western)
Playoff finishConference semifinals
(lost to Warriors 2–4)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

The Pistons made a major move in the off-season, trading perennial All-Star Dave Bing to the Washington Bullets for NBA assist leader Kevin Porter. Porter would only play 19 games for the Pistons in 1975-76, missing the bulk of the season with an injury. Bing represented Washington at the 1976 NBA All-Star Game, honored as the game MVP. The team also made a move at mid-season, firing coach Ray Scott. Greg Eno from Out of Bounds described his January dismissal, "Thirty years ago and a month, Scott was conducting practice -- the Pistons were in a terrible slump at the time -- and management strode onto the court, relieved Ray Scott of his silver whistle, and marched him off the court to give him the Ziggy -- that Detroit word for a coach getting fired. The Pistons hadn't yet learned to act with class in 1976. They were still a bush league franchise, even though Bing and Scott and Lanier had combined to put pro basketball on the map in Detroit. So the firing of Scott -- in front of his stunned players -- in January 1976 was done with all the subtlety of July 4th fireworks."[2] He was replaced by assistant Herb Brown.[3]

The Pistons finished with a 36-46 (.439) record, 2nd place in the Midwest Division. The team was led by forward Curtis Rowe (16.0 ppg, 8.7 apg, NBA All-Star) and center Bob Lanier (21.3 ppg, 11.7 rpg).[4] Detroit advanced to the 1976 NBA Playoffs, winning 10 of their 11 final games, and then won their first round series of the Western Conference playoffs 2-1 over the Milwaukee Bucks, the team's first playoff series win since the 1961-62 Detroit Pistons season. Detroit won the deciding 3rd game of the series in Milwaukee 107-104, securing the win with a late Chris Ford steal. The team then fell to the Golden State Warriors 4-2 in the Western Conference Semi-Finals, dropping the 6th game in overtime 118-116 at Cobo Arena in Detroit.[5]

Draft picks
Main article: 1975 NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
464Lindsay HairstonForward United StatesMichigan State
9151Terry ThomasForward United StatesDetroit

Roster
Detroit Pistons roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOBFrom
C 20 Brown, Roger 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1950-02-23 Kansas
SG 11 Clark, Archie 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1941-07-15 Minnesota
SG 22 Dickerson, Henry 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 204 lb (93 kg) 1951-11-27 College of Charleston
SF 44 Eberhard, Al 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1952-05-10 Missouri
SG 42 Ford, Chris 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1949-01-11 Villanova
SF 45 Hairston, Lindsay 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1951-12-08 Michigan State
C 16 Lanier, Bob (C) 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1948-09-10 St. Bonaventure
SG 15 Mengelt, John 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1949-10-16 Auburn
PG 14 Money, Eric 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1955-02-06 Arizona
SF 54 Porter, Howard 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1948-08-31 Villanova
PG 10 Porter, Kevin 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1950-04-17 Saint Francis (PA)
PF 18 Rowe, Curtis 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1949-07-02 UCLA
PF 50 Thomas, Terry 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1953-08-20 Detroit Mercy
PF 31 Trapp, George 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1948-07-11 Long Beach State
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Roster
Last transaction: February 24, 1976

Regular season

Season standings
Midwest Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Milwaukee Bucks 3844.463–22–1916–2513–8
x-Detroit Pistons 3646.439224–1712–2912–9
Kansas City Kings 3151.378725–166–3510–11
Chicago Bulls 2458.2931415–269–327–14
#
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—

Playoffs
1976 playoff game log
First Round: 2–1 (home: 1–0; road: 1–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 April 13 @ Milwaukee L 107–110 Bob Lanier (25) Bob Lanier (15) Lanier, Clark (6) MECCA Arena
8,912		 0–1
2 April 16 Milwaukee W 126–123 Bob Lanier (35) Curtis Rowe (10) Money, Clark (5) Cobo Arena
8,330		 1–1
3 April 18 @ Milwaukee W 107–104 Bob Lanier (28) Bob Lanier (12) Eric Money (8) MECCA Arena
8,213		 2–1
Conference semifinals: 2–4 (home: 1–2; road: 1–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 April 20 @ Golden State L 103–127 Bob Lanier (18) Bob Lanier (16) Chris Ford (7) Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena
13,067		 0–1
2 April 22 @ Golden State W 123–111 Curtis Rowe (33) Curtis Rowe (10) Chris Ford (9) Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena
13,067		 1–1
3 April 24 Golden State L 96–113 Bob Lanier (23) Bob Lanier (16) Eric Money (8) Cobo Arena
10,022		 1–2
4 April 26 Golden State W 106–102 Bob Lanier (30) Bob Lanier (11) Eric Money (7) Cobo Arena
11,389		 2–2
5 April 28 @ Golden State L 109–128 Howard Porter (20) Bob Lanier (12) Archie Clark (5) Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena
13,067		 2–3
6 April 30 Golden State L 116–118 (OT) Bob Lanier (30) Bob Lanier (16) Eric Money (9) Cobo Arena
10,361		 2–4
1976 schedule

References
  1. 1975–76 Detroit Pistons
  2. "Out of Bounds: Ex-Pistons Coach Scott Still Giving Back to Detroit". March 2006.
  3. "Chevette to Corvette No. 38: The 1975-76 Detroit Pistons". October 21, 2011.
  4. "1975-76 Detroit Pistons Roster and Stats".
  5. "1975-76 Detroit Pistons Roster and Stats".
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