The 1976 ABA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...

's 1975–76 season. The tournament concluded with the New York Nets defeating the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

four games to two in the

ABA Finals The American Basketball Association (ABA) Finals were the championship series of the ABA, a professional basketball league, in which two teams played each other for the title. The ABA was formed in the fall of 1967, and the first ABA Finals were ...

. This was the final year of the ABA. The ABA-NBA merger took place on June 17, 1976. Thus the final game in ABA history was played on May 13, 1976, when the New York Nets defeated the Denver Nuggets 112-106 at

Nassau Coliseum Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (or simply the Nassau Coliseum) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Uniondale, New York, east of New York City. The Long Island venue is approximately east of the eastern limits of the New York City Borough of ...

in Uniondale, New York. As there were no divisions in the regular season, the playoffs involved five teams, with a first-round best-of-three series played between the fourth-place

Kentucky Colonels The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association for all of the league's nine years. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky colonels. The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of ...

and fifth-place

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

; Kentucky won the series, 2 games to 1.

Notable events

Julius Erving of the New York Nets was the Most Valuable Player of the ABA playoffs. He won that distinction previously in 1974 and became the only player in ABA history to repeat as the MVP of the league playoffs. On April 28, 1976, the

lost the seventh game of their series with the Denver Nuggets. The loss marked the final game for the Colonels and the final game for any ABA team that did not proceed into the NBA with the ABA-NBA merger. The Nuggets and the Nets met in the championship series after posting the two best regular season records in the league. With their 4-3 loss in their opening round matchup with the New York Nets, the San Antonio Spurs concluded their ABA tenure without ever winning a single ABA playoff series. Since joining the NBA, the Spurs have won 5 NBA championships total, making them the only ABA team that has won a championship in the NBA. , the Nuggets are the only former ABA team that has yet to make an NBA Finals (the Pacers made one Finals in , and the then-New Jersey Nets made two in and , with all three series ending in a loss).

Score

Quarterfinals

(1) Denver Nuggets, (2) New York Nets, (3) San Antonio Spurs have division Quarterfinals byes. (4)

vs. (5)

: ''Colonels win series 2-1'' *Game 1 @ Kentucky: Kentucky 120, Indiana 109 *Game 2 @ Indiana: Indiana 109, Kentucky 95 *Game 3 @ Kentucky: Kentucky 100, Indiana 99

Semifinals

(1)

vs. (4)

: ''Nuggets win series 4-3'' *Game 1 @ Denver: Denver 110, Kentucky 107 *Game 2 @ Denver: Kentucky 138, Denver 110 *Game 3 @ Kentucky: Kentucky 126, Denver 114 *Game 4 @ Kentucky: Denver 108, Kentucky 106 *Game 5 @ Denver: Denver 127, Kentucky 117 *Game 6 @ Kentucky: Kentucky 119, Denver 115 *Game 7 @ Denver: Denver 133, Kentucky 110 (2) New York Nets vs. (3) San Antonio Spurs: ''Nets win series 4-3'' *Game 1 @ New York: New York 116, San Antonio 101 *Game 2 @ New York: San Antonio 105, New York 79 *Game 3 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 111, New York 103 *Game 4 @ San Antonio: New York 110, San Antonio 108 *Game 5 @ New York: New York 110, San Antonio 108 *Game 6 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 115, New York 110 *Game 7 @ New York: New York 121, San Antonio 114

Finals

(1)

vs. (2) New York Nets: ''Nets win series 4-2'' *Game 1 (May 1) @ Denver: New York 120, Denver 118 *Game 2 (May 4) @ Denver: Denver 127, New York 121 *Game 3 (May 6) @ New York: New York 117, Denver 111 *Game 4 (May 8) @ New York: New York 121, Denver 112 *Game 5 (May 11) @ Denver: Denver 118, New York 110 *Game 6 (May 13) @ New York: New York 112, Denver 106

External links

RememberTheABA.com page on 1976 ABA playoffs
{{DEFAULTSORT:1976 Aba Playoffs Playoffs American Basketball Association playoffs