The 1976–77 Boston Celtics season was the 31st season of the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). Even though the Celtics were the defending NBA champions, they were an aging team in transition. Thirty-five year old Don Nelson retired as a player, but the key contributors who remained were aging, namely

John Havlicek John Joseph Havlicek (often nicknamed Hondo) ( ; April 8, 1940 – April 25, 2019) was an American professional basketball player who spent his entire career with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A swingman, Hav ...

(age 36), Jo Jo White (31), and Paul Silas (33). The Celtics took steps to get younger in the frontcourt by sending Silas to 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 Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

in a three-way trade that ended up bringing

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

forward Curtis Rowe. The Celtics also traded a first-round draft pick to the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

for Sidney Wicks. Wicks and Rowe would provide athleticism, the Celtics felt, and, more importantly, allow Havlicek to return to a sixth-man role and not log as many minutes as in the past. Boston only won 44 games, the fewest since coach

Tom Heinsohn Thomas William Heinsohn (August 26, 1934 – November 9, 2020) was an American professional basketball player, coach, and broadcaster. He was associated with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) for six decades as a pl ...

's second season, and lost to their rivals

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, the league's eventual runners-up, in a seven-game series.

Draft picks

The Celtics picked 16th in the 1976 NBA draft and selected Norm Cook, a 6–8, 210-lb. junior-eligible forward from the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

. Cook, however, did not contribute much, playing in only 25 games and averaging 2.5 points per game.

Roster

Regular season

The Celtics started the season 4-0 (with their first two games entering overtime, as well having another overtime game during their sixth game of the season), but Wicks and Rowe had trouble fitting in with Celtic coach

's system, and the team played .500 ball for most of the season. Charlie Scott suffered a broken foot and only played 31 games, which meant Havlicek had to log more minutes, primarily at off-guard. Depth was a problem for the Celtics, as backup center Jim Ard was the only reliable reserve. Havlicek, White, and Cowens carried most of the scoring load for the team all season.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Playoffs

, - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 1 , April 12 ,

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

W 104–94
, Jo Jo White (24) , Dave Cowens (13) , Dave Cowens (7) , Boston Garden
13,505 , 1–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 2 , April 15 , @

W 113–109
, Jo Jo White (38) , Sidney Wicks (12) , Cowens, Havlicek (9) ,

HemisFair Arena HemisFair Arena (also known as the San Antonio Convention Center Arena) was an indoor arena located in San Antonio, Texas. It was home to the ABA/NBA's San Antonio Spurs from 1973 to 1993 and the San Antonio Force of the AFL during the 1992 sea ...

12,067 , 2–0 , - , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 1 , April 17 , @

W 113–111
, Charlie Scott (22) , Dave Cowens (15) , Charlie Scott (8) ,

Spectrum A spectrum (: spectra or spectrums) is a set of related ideas, objects, or properties whose features overlap such that they blend to form a continuum. The word ''spectrum'' was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of co ...

13,821 , 1–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 2 , April 20 , @

L 101–113
,

(31) , Dave Cowens (15) , Jo Jo White (7) ,

18,276 , 1–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 3 , April 22 ,

L 100–109
,

(25) , Wicks, Cowens (8) , Jo Jo White (7) , Boston Garden
15,040 , 1–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 4 , April 24 ,

W 124–119
, Dave Cowens (37) , Dave Cowens (21) ,

(15) , Boston Garden
15,040 , 2–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 5 , April 27 , @

L 91–110
, Charlie Scott (20) , Curtis Rowe (16) , Jo Jo White (7) ,

18,276 , 2–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 6 , April 29 ,

W 113–108
, Jo Jo White (40) , Dave Cowens (19) ,

(6) , Boston Garden
15,040 , 3–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 7 , May 1 , @

L 77–83
, Jo Jo White (17) , Dave Cowens (27) , Charlie Scott (6) ,

18,276 , 3–4 , -

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1976-77 Boston Celtics Season Boston Celtics seasons

Celtics Celtics