1975–76 Portland Trail Blazers season

NBA professional basketball team season

NBA professional basketball team season

1975–76 Portland Trail Blazers season

Head coach| Lenny Wilkens
General manager| Harry Glickman
Owner(s)| Larry Weinberg
Arena| Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record| 37-45 (.451)
Place| Division: 5th (Pacific)
Conference: 7th (Western)
Playoff finish| Did not qualify

* * *

Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television| KOIN
Radio| KOIN
| < 1974–75  | 1976–77 >

|

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.

## Draft picks[edit]

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

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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[edit]

1975–76 Portland Trail Blazers roster  Players  | Coaches

|

| Pos. | No. | Name  | Height  | Weight  | DOB  | From

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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
G | 23 | Jones, Steve | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)  | 205 lb (93 kg)  |  | Oregon
C | 25 | Martin, LaRue | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)  | 208 lb (94 kg)  |  | Loyola Chicago
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

* Lenny Wilkens

Assistant coach(es)

* Tom Meschery

* * *

Legend

* (DP) Unsigned draft pick
* (FA) Free agent
* (S) Suspended
* Injured

## Regular season[edit]

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

### October[edit]

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[edit]

Pacific Division

* v
* t
* e

|  W  |  L  |  PCT  |  GB  |  Home  |  Road  |  Div

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y-Golden State Warriors | 59 | 23 | .720 | – | 36–5 | 23–18 | 17–9
x-Seattle SuperSonics | 43 | 39 | .524 | 16 | 31–10 | 12–29 | 12–14
x-Phoenix Suns | 42 | 40 | .512 | 17 | 27–14 | 15–26 | 15–11
Los Angeles Lakers | 40 | 42 | .488 | 19 | 31–11 | 9–31 | 10–16
Portland Trail Blazers | 37 | 45 | .451 | 22 | 25–15 | 12–30 | 11–15
#  |

Western Conference

* v
* t
* e

|

Team  |  W  |  L  |  PCT  |  GB
1  | z-Golden State Warriors | 59 | 23 | .720 | –
2  | x-Seattle SuperSonics | 43 | 39 | .524 | 16
3  | x-Phoenix Suns | 42 | 40 | .512 | 17
4  | y-Milwaukee Bucks | 38 | 44 | .463 | 21
5  | x-Detroit Pistons | 36 | 46 | .439 | 23
6  | Los Angeles Lakers | 40 | 42 | .488 | 19
7  | Portland Trail Blazers | 37 | 45 | .451 | 22
8  | Kansas City Kings | 31 | 51 | .378 | 28
9  | Chicago Bulls | 24 | 58 | .293 | 35

z – clinched division title
y – clinched division title
x – clinched playoff spot

### Record vs. opponents[edit]

1975–76 NBA Records

Team  | ATL  | BOS  | BUF  | CHI  | CLE  | DET  | GSW  | HOU  | KCK  | LAL  | MIL  | NOJ  | NYK  | PHI  | PHO  | POR  | SEA  | WAS
Atlanta | – | 2–3 | 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 | —

## Awards and honors[edit]

* Lionel Hollins, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team

## References[edit]

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.

* v
* t
* e

1975–76 NBA season by team

* 1975 NBA draft
* All-Star Game
* Playoffs
* Finals
* Transactions

Eastern|

| Atlantic|

* Boston
* Buffalo
* New York
* Philadelphia

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Central|

* Atlanta
* Cleveland
* Houston
* New Orleans
* Washington

Western|

| Midwest|

* Chicago
* Detroit
* Kansas City
* Milwaukee

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Pacific|

* Golden State
* Los Angeles
* Phoenix
* Portland
* Seattle

* v
* t
* e

Portland Trail Blazers seasons

* Franchise
* History
* Seasons

1970s|

|  |  1970–71 |  1971–72 |  1972–73 |  1973–74 |  1974–75 |  1975–76 |  1976–77 |  1977–78 |  1978–79

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1980s|

|  1979–80 |  1980–81 |  1981–82 |  1982–83 |  1983–84 |  1984–85 |  1985–86 |  1986–87 | 1987–88 |  1988–89

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1990s|

|  1989–90 |  1990–91 |  1991–92 |  1992–93 |  1993–94 |  1994–95 |  1995–96 |  1996–97 |  1997–98 |  1998–99

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2000s|

|  1999–00 |  2000–01 |  2001–02 |  2002–03 |  2003–04 |  2004–05 |  2005–06 |  2006–07 |  2007–08 |  2008–09

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2010s|

|  2009–10 |  2010–11 |  2011–12 |  2012–13 |  2013–14 | 2014–15 | 2015–16 | 2016–17 | 2017–18 | 2018–19

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2020s|

|  2019–20 |  2020–21 |  2021–22 |  2022–23 |  2023–24 |  |  |  |  |

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Bold indicates NBA Finals victory
*[Pos.]: Position
*[No.]: Number
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[ W ]: Games won
*[ L ]: Games lost
*[ PCT ]: Winning percentage
*[ GB ]: Games behind
*[ Home ]: Home record
*[ Road ]: Road record
*[ Div ]: Division record