The1976 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round for theNational Basketball Association (NBA)'s1975–76 season, and the culmination of theseason's playoffs. TheEastern Conference championBoston Celtics defeated theWestern Conference championPhoenix Suns 4 games to 2 to win their 13th NBA Championship. Celtics point guardJo Jo White was named as theseries MVP.

ThePhoenix Suns entered the NBA as anexpansion team in the1968–69 season. Prior to 1976, they only made the playoffs once, losing to theLos Angeles Lakers in the first round of the1970 NBA playoffs. Before that, the Suns lost a coin flip to theMilwaukee Bucks prior to the1969 NBA draft, losing out on selectingKareem Abdul-Jabbar. Phoenix ultimately selectedNeal Walk, who became a bust. The Suns redeemed themselves in the1975 NBA draft by selectingAlvan Adams fourth overall.

With Adams fortifying the center position, and with new additionPaul Westphal andDick Van Arsdale providing the scoring punch, the Sunsreached the playoffs for the second time, finishing with 42 wins. The Suns defeated theSeattle SuperSonics in six games in the conference semifinals, before achieving a bigger upset in dethroning theprevious year's champions, the top seededGolden State Warriors in seven games. The Suns reached their first NBA Finals.

TheBoston Celtics were seeking to make up for the lost opportunity they squandered in the1975 NBA playoffs. That year, they finished with 60 wins, but lost to theWashington Bullets in the conference finals. They kept the core of the team that won the1974 NBA Finals, but made some tweaks, including trading Westphal to Phoenix forCharlie Scott. The Celtics won 54 games in the1975–76 season, then defeated theBuffalo Braves and the "Miracle of Richfield"Cleveland Cavaliers in six games each to reach their 14th NBA Finals. Boston was seeking its 13th NBA title.

Boston swept the four-game regular season series.

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Boston Celtics defeated Phoenix Suns, 4–2

Boston won game one with a balanced attack.John Havlicek did not start for the Celtics due to a heel injury. However, Boston coachTom Heinsohn rushed Havlicek into the game with 7:24 left in the first quarter as Phoenix took an early 10–7 lead, and the Ohio State product played the rest of the game.Dave Cowens recorded a triple-double with 25 points, 21 rebounds, and 10 assists whileJo Jo White shot only 1-for-4 in the first half before making 8-of-11 shots in the second half to keep Phoenix at bay. Phoenix trailed by two at the end of the first quarter, despite 11 first quarter Celtic turnovers.Kevin Stacom scored five straight points, his only points of the game, to put Boston up for good 22–20.Charlie Scott fouled out when he picked up his fifth and sixth fouls in an 11-second span.

Phoenix lost their twelfth game in a row at the Boston Garden. Boston put the game away with a 20–2 run at the start of the third quarter, giving them a 72–43 lead. The run was started by steals from Jo Jo White and Charlie Scott. Scott made just one of his nine shots in the first half but came alive with 12 points in the third quarter. Boston again started slowly without John Havlicek in the starting lineup, not making a field goal in the first three minutes of the game, again prompting Heinsohn to put Havlicek in the game.

Phoenix held Boston scoreless for nearly five minutes in the second quarter as they went to a 16-point lead. Then, the Suns'Ricky Sobers and Boston'sKevin Stacom got into a fistfight, and both were ejected. Sobers had a good game to that point, and Phoenix coachJohn MacLeod would later accuse the Celtics of having Stacom bait Sobers into the fight in order to get him out of the game.^{[citation needed]}

The Suns extended the lead to 23 in the third, but Boston began to charge back and cut the lead to two with three minutes left. At that point, Suns rookie centerAlvan Adams scored twice, passed off toPaul Westphal for another basket, and then tipped in a Westphal miss. That was enough to get Phoenix a 105–98 win. Adams finished with 33 points and 14 rebounds.Dave Cowens andCharlie Scott both fouled out for the Celtics, and the Celtics also received for two technical fouls.

In the first NBA game played in the month of June, referees Don Murphy and Manny Sokol whistled 21 fouls in the first 10 minutes. Celtics coach Heinsohn claimed later that the affair was pure "high school."John Havlicek and Cowens put the blame on their team for committing stupid fouls.""^{[citation needed]}

The game was close to the end, whenRicky Sobers hit a bank shot to put the Suns up by four with 90 seconds left. The Celtics cut it to two and had a chance to tie it, but lost 109-107 whenJo Jo White missed a jump shot late.

Game 5 was a triple-overtime contest that is sometimes referred to as "the greatest game ever played"^[1][2][3][4] in NBA history. The Celtics surged out to a 36–18 lead after one quarter and led 42-20 early in the second, withJohn Havlicek (starting for the first time all series) scoring 19 of his team's points. The halftime lead was 61-45 Celtics, but the Suns began to claw back and held Havlicek scoreless until near the end of regulation.

The game was enhanced by several controversies. Two controversies involved each team's use of timeouts:

Another set of controversies involved the clock:

The most notable portion of the game was the final 20 seconds of the second overtime. Boston led at that point 109–106 (with the three-point basket not yet in existence). Phoenix had possession of the ball after taking its last timeout of the OT. In an amazing and frantic sequence, the following transpired:

Phoenix suddenly led, 110–109, with just five seconds left, and the team looked poised to win their third straight game and grab a 3-to-2 edge in the series.John Havlicek (already of "Havlicek Stole the Ball" fame) responded with a drive and a leaning one-hander in traffic, that he banked in off the glass (his first basket since the first quarter), putting Boston in front 111–110 as the horn sounded. The fans then poured onto the court to celebrate Boston's apparent victory. The Celtics returned to their locker room. According to CBS guest analyst &Golden State Warriors forwardRick Barry, the ball went through the hoop with two seconds left and the clock should have been stopped. The officials apparently agreed with Barry and ordered the Celtics back onto the floor, continuing the game.

During the ensuing pandemonium, a fan attacked refereeRichie Powers and other fans turned over one of the scorer's tables. After clearing the court (the fan who attacked Powers was arrested and the fans who overturned the scorer's table were ejected) and getting the Celtics back on the floor, the officials put one second back on the clock. Still, Phoenix's chances seemed slim, as they had the ball under their own basket with a second left. ThenPaul Westphal of the Suns signaled for a time out that the Suns did not have. Although this resulted in a technical foul being called on Westphal, the play was critical for Phoenix, because the rules at the time gave Phoenix the same advantage (save for the technical foul shot) that they would have had with timeouts remaining to use; namely, possession of the ball at half court. Boston's Jo Jo White made the technical free throw, increasing Boston's lead to 112–110.

During the timeout, fans were still on the Boston Garden floor, even disturbing the Suns' huddle by their bench as coachJohn MacLeod was drawing up a play for a possible tying basket. The Suns' players repeatedly had to shove the fans out of the way, and Phoenix general managerJerry Colangelo even threatened to not bring his team back to the Boston Garden for Game 7 if security couldn't maintain control. When play resumed, Phoenix'sGar Heard took the inbounds pass from Perry and made a buzzer-beating shot (a turn-around jumper at the top of the key) for the Suns that tied the score yet again, 112–112.

Boston eventually took a six-point lead, 128–122, late in the third overtime, asGlenn McDonald, a little-used Celtic reserve player, chipped in half a dozen. Westphal then scored the next four points for Phoenix (as part of a brilliant performance that featured several leaping, spinning, acrobatic bank shots) cutting the gap to 128–126, but he could not get the ball again; (although he very nearly did – almost stealing a pass near half court as the third overtime wound down).

Celtics who fouled out (were disqualified due to six personal fouls) wereCharlie Scott in the last minute of regulation,Dave Cowens with one minute left in the 2nd overtime, andPaul Silas in the 3rd overtime.Alvan Adams andDennis Awtrey both fouled out for the Suns. Silas picked up his fifth foul late in the fourth quarter, but played the entire remainder, including all three overtime periods before fouling out late in the third.

The Suns had the lead in the game on only four occasions (twice in the second overtime) and never by more than 2 points. They led 95–94 late in the fourth, and 106–105 and 110–109 in the 2nd overtime. They also led by two points on three occasions in the third overtime.

McDonald scored eight points in the game, all in overtime.

Jo Jo White led all scorers with 33 points.

After the tough Game 5 loss, the Suns were more defiant heading home to Phoenix. "We know we're going to beat them."Gar Heard declared. "It's going to take seven now, but we know we're going to beat them. We showed we came to play."^{[citation needed]}

The first half was a defensive struggle. Tied after the first quarter at 20 points each, Boston scored 18 in the second quarter while holding the Suns to 13. Suns reserveKeith Erickson attempted to play at the start of the second quarter but reinjured his sprained ankle and never returned. After falling behind by 11, Phoenix caught up again in the third and took a 67–66 lead on aRicky Sobers free throw with 7:25 left in the game.

But the Celtic responded and took control. Havlicek hit two free throws, then Cowens stole got a steal and immediately scored while drawing a foul. He made the ensuing free throw for a three-point play. Cowens then scored twice and Havlicek another to put the game away. Scott had three steals during the run and finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds, ending a series-long 11-for-44 shooting slump. During the run, Phoenix's only response was four free throws. The Celtics rode their surge to an 87–80 win and their 13th championship.

Jo Jo White scored 15 points, giving him 130 points in six games, and was named the series MVP.John Havlicek celebrated his eighth and final NBA title as a Celtic.

The 1975–76 Finals had three straight off days between Sunday afternoon opener and Thursday night second game due toCBS's concern with lowratings for professional basketball. The 1975–76 network television season, as well as May sweeps, ended after Wednesday, May 26 and weekend afternoon games did not affect prime-time ratings. Accordingly, CBS allowed Game 1 to be played on Sunday afternoon, since the ratings would not count, but would not permit Game 2 to be played live in prime time unless the NBA waited until Thursday evening.^{[citation needed]}

Game 3 started on Sunday, May 30 at 10:30 a.m.MT (1:30 p.m.ET) to allow CBS to televise the final round of thePGA TourMemorial Tournament following the game.^[5] The move angered numerous clergy in the Phoenix area, who saw drastically reduced attendance at Sunday morning services.^{[citation needed]}

Phoenix Suns roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB (Y-M-D) From F/C 33 Alvan Adams 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1954-07-19 Oklahoma C 21 Dennis Awtrey 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1948-02-22 Santa Clara G/F 14 Keith Erickson 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1944-04-19 UCLA G/F 32 Nate Hawthorne 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1950-01-15 Southern Illinois F 24 Garfield Heard 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 219 lb (99 kg) 1948-05-03 Oklahoma G 10 Phil Lumpkin 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 1951-12-20 Miami (OH) F 18 Curtis Perry 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1948-09-13 Missouri State G 12 Pat Riley 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1945-03-20 Kentucky G 40 Ricky Sobers 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 198 lb (90 kg) 1953-01-15 UNLV G/F 5 Dick Van Arsdale 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1943-02-22 Indiana G 44 Paul Westphal 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1950-11-30 USC G/F 25 John Wetzel 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1944-10-20 Virginia Tech	Head coach John MacLeod (Bellarmine) Assistant(s) Al Bianchi (Bowling Green) Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

The championship was the 13th won by the Celtics, and they kept the original Walter A. Brown trophy through the1976–77 season. During the season, the NBA commissioned a new championship trophy, later to be renamed theLarry O'Brien Championship Trophy, in which the winning team would keep the trophy permanently.

Unfortunately, the Celtics were unable to successfully defend their championship, losing in theEastern Conference semifinals to the eventual conference championPhiladelphia 76ers in seven games. After that, the team began to rebuild, losing John Havlicek to retirement and then Jo Jo White to a trade within two years. Despite draftingLarry Bird in the1978 NBA draft, Bird elected to play out his final season in college while the Celtics lost 53 games in the1978–79 season. With Bird debuting for the1979–80 season, the Celtics won 32 more games, but it was not until1981 that they won another championship, which came against theHouston Rockets in six games.

The Suns followed their unexpected run to the Finals with a losing season in1976–77, going 34–48. After the season, Dick Van Arsdale and twin brotherTom van Ardsdale, who became his teammate for that season, retired.Pat Riley, who did not play in the finals, also retired as a player after the season and went on to win six NBA championships as a head coach. However, the Suns would make the playoffs the next eight seasons, going as far as the conference finals in the1979 and1984.

Alvan Adams remained with the Suns for the next twelve seasons, retiring after1987–88.Paul Westphal played five more seasons in Phoenix, in two different stints, before becoming the Suns’ head coach. Westphal would coach the Suns to the1993 NBA Finals, when they fell to theMichael Jordan-ledChicago Bulls in six games, becoming the last victim of the first Bulls three-peat from1991 to 1993. They would also make the Finals in2021, but they would lose to theMilwaukee Bucks, also in six games.

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