1975 NBA Playoffs

1975 NBA playoffs
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The 1975 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1974–75 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors defeating the Eastern Conference champion Washington Bullets 4 games to 0 in the NBA Finals. Rick Barry was named NBA Finals MVP.

The Warriors won their third NBA title, first since 1956 as the Philadelphia Warriors, and most recent until 2015.

The playoff format was revised again, as the result of which the first two finishers in each division were guaranteed playoff berths, along with the best third-place team from each conference. Once each conference's qualifiers were selected, they were seeded 1–5, with the fourth and fifth seeds playing a best-of-three series, with the victor advancing to play the first seed in a best-of-seven semifinal, while the second and third seeds played the other semifinal.

The eight-year-old Seattle SuperSonics made their playoff debut, winning the first playoff series in franchise history against the Detroit Pistons. Seattle would go on to make consecutive NBA Finals appearances in 1978 and 1979, winning the championship the latter year.

The Kansas City-Omaha Kings made their first playoff appearance since 1967 as the Cincinnati Royals, and the Houston Rockets made their first playoff appearance since 1969 as the San Diego Rockets.

The 1975 playoffs expanded the number of playoff qualifiers to 10; it would be expanded again to 12 in 1977 and again to its current number of 16 in 1984.

At the time, this was the closest the Chicago Bulls came to an NBA title, losing to the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals 4–3. This was their last Conference Finals appearance as a Western Conference team. They would move to the Eastern Conference (where they remain today) in 1980. They would not reach the East Finals until 1989, and would not win a title until 1991.

Bracket

  First Round Conference Semifinals Conference Finals NBA Finals
                                     
        
  1  Golden State 4  
    4  Seattle 2  
4  Seattle 2
5  Detroit 1  
  1  Golden State 4  
Western Conference
  2  Chicago 3  
        
        
  3  Kansas City-Omaha 2
    2  Chicago 4  
      
        
  1  Golden State 4
  2  Washington 0
        
        
  1  Boston 4
    4  Houston 1  
4  Houston 2
5  New York 1  
  1  Boston 2
Eastern Conference
  2  Washington 4  
        
        
  3  Buffalo 3
    2  Washington 4  
      

Western Conference

Champion: Golden State Warriors

1st Round

(1) Golden State Warriors, (2) Chicago Bulls & (3) Kansas City Kings have first round byes.

(4) Seattle SuperSonics vs. (5) Detroit Pistons: Sonics win series 2-1

Conference Semifinals

(1) Golden State Warriors vs. (4) Seattle SuperSonics: Warriors win series 4-2

(2) Chicago Bulls vs. (3) Kansas City-Omaha Kings: Bulls win series 4-2

Conference Finals

(1) Golden State Warriors vs. (2) Chicago Bulls: Warriors win series 4-3

Eastern Conference

Champion: Washington Bullets

1st Round

(1) Boston Celtics, (2) Washington Bullets & (3) Buffalo Braves have first round byes.

(4) Houston Rockets vs. (5) New York Knicks: Rockets win series 2-1

Conference Semifinals

(1) Boston Celtics vs. (4) Houston Rockets: Celtics win series 4-1

(2) Washington Bullets vs. (3) Buffalo Braves: Bullets win series 4-3

Note: Bob McAdoo scored 50 points in Game 4 for the Braves.

Conference Finals

(1) Boston Celtics vs. (2) Washington Bullets: Bullets win series 4-2

NBA Finals

Main article: 1975 NBA Finals

(2) Washington Bullets vs. (1) Golden State Warriors: Warriors win series 4-0

External links

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