1977–78 Boston Celtics season

1977–78 Boston Celtics season
Head coach	Tom Heinsohn Satch Sanders
General manager	Red Auerbach
Arena	Boston Garden Hartford Civic Center
Results
Record	32–50 (.390)
Place	Division: 3rd (Atlantic) Conference: 8th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	DNQ
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	WBZ-TV, WATR
Radio	WBZ Radio, WTIC

The 1977–78 Boston Celtics season was the 32nd season of the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and was linked to the Buffalo Braves season. While the Braves were struggling on the court, their owner John Y. Brown brokered a deal to take over the legendary Celtics franchise. Celtics owner Irv Levin wanted to move the franchise to California, however, the NBA would not allow him to take the cornerstone franchise out of Boston.^[1]

NBA lawyer (and future commissioner) David Stern offered a comprise in which Levin and Brown would swap franchises, so that Levin could take over the Braves and move them to San Diego. The Braves, ironically, played their last game of the season in Boston. Eventually, the owners of the 22 franchises voted 21-1 to approve the deal, and the Braves moved from Buffalo to San Diego. The deal also included a 7-player trade in which the Celtics acquired Nate Archibald, Billy Knight and Marvin Barnes in exchange for Freeman Williams, Kevin Kunnert, Kermit Washington and Sidney Wicks. The Braves would not request a draft pick in the deal, allowing the Celtics to retain the draft rights to future Hall of Famer Larry Bird.^[1]

This was one of only three seasons from 1951 to 1993 that the Celtics finished with a losing record. This was the 16th and final season for the legendary John Havlicek. No person has played more seasons for the Celtics than Havlicek.

Draft picks

Roster

1977–78 Boston Celtics roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From C 54 Abdul-Aziz, Zaid 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1946-04-07 Iowa State C 34 Ard, Jim 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1948-09-19 Cincinnati F 52 Bigelow, Bob 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1953-12-26 Pennsylvania G 44 Bing, Dave 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1943-11-24 Syracuse F 31 Boswell, Tom 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1953-10-02 South Carolina G 42 Chaney, Don 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1946-03-22 Houston C 18 Cowens, Dave 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1948-10-25 Florida State G 7 DiGregorio, Ernie 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1951-01-15 Providence F 17 Havlicek, John 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 203 lb (92 kg) 1940-04-08 Ohio State F 33 Kuberski, Steve 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1947-11-06 Bradley F 30 Maxwell, Cedric (R) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1955-11-21 UNC Charlotte F 41 Rowe, Curtis 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1949-07-02 UCLA F 20 Saunders, Fred 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1951-06-13 Syracuse G 11 Scott, Charlie 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1948-12-15 North Carolina G 27 Stacom, Kevin 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1951–09-04 Providence F 26 Washington, Kermit 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1951-09-17 American G 10 White, Jo Jo 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1946-11-16 Kansas F 12 Wicks, Sidney 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1949-09-19 UCLA	Head coach Tommy Heinsohn Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended (R) Rookie Injured Roster • Transactions Last transaction: 2016-07-30

Regular season

Season standings

Atlantic Division

Team	W	L	PCT.	GB
Philadelphia 76ers	55	27	.671	–
New York Knicks	43	39	.524	12
Boston Celtics	32	50	.390	23
Buffalo Braves	27	55	.329	28
New Jersey Nets	24	58	.293	31

Record vs. opponents

1977–78 NBA records
Team	ATL	BOS	BUF	CHI	CLE	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	KCK	LAL	MIL	NJN	NOJ	NYK	PHI	PHO	POR	SAS	SEA	WAS
Atlanta	—	2–2	3–1	1–3	1–3	1–3	2–2	1–3	3–1	3–1	2–1	3–1	2–2	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–3	1–3	2–1	1–3
Boston	2–2	—	3–1	1–3	1–3	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–1	2–2	1–2	3–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	0–4	2–2	1–3	0–4	0–4	1–3
Buffalo	1–3	1–3	—	3–1	1–3	1–3	1–3	0–3	3–1	1–3	1–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–3	0–4	1–3	1–3	1–3	1–3
Chicago	3–1	3–1	1–3	—	3–1	2–2	2–2	1–3	3–1	3–1	0–4	2–2	1–3	1–2	2–2	1–3	3–0	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–1
Cleveland	3–1	3–1	3–1	1–3	—	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–1	2–2	2–2	3–1	3–1	2–2	3–1	1–3	1–2	0–4	0–4	3–1	2–2
Denver	3–1	3–1	3–1	2–2	1–3	—	2–2	2–2	3–0	2–2	2–2	3–1	3–1	3–1	3–1	1–3	1–3	2–2	3–1	2–1	1–3	3–1
Detroit	2–2	3–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	—	2–2	3–1	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	3–0	0–4	0–4	2–2	1–3	1–3	1–3	2–2
Golden State	3–1	2–2	3–0	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	—	2–1	3–1	3–1	0–4	2–2	3–1	0–4	2–2	1–3	2–2	1–3	3–1	2–2	2–2
Houston	1–3	2–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	0–3	1–3	1–2	—	3–1	2–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	1–3	0–4	1–3
Indiana	1–3	1–2	3–1	1–3	1–2	2–2	3–1	1–3	1–3	—	2–2	1–3	0–4	2–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	1–3	1–3	1–3	1–3	3–1
Kansas City	1–2	2–2	2–1	4–0	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–3	2–2	2–2	—	2–2	0–4	2–2	2–2	0–4	1–3	0–4	0–4	0–4	1–3	2–2
Los Angeles	1–3	2–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	4–0	3–1	3–1	2–2	—	3–1	4–0	2–1	3–1	2–2	1–3	0–4	2–2	1–3	2–2
Milwaukee	2–2	1–3	3–1	3–1	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	4–0	4–0	1–3	—	3–1	2–1	3–1	1–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	1–3	3–1
New Jersey	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–1	1–3	1–3	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–2	0–4	1–3	—	0–4	1–3	0–4	2–2	0–3	0–4	2–2	2–2
New Orleans	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	1–3	1–3	4–0	3–1	2–2	2–2	1–2	1–2	4–0	—	1–3	2–2	1–3	3–1	1–3	2–2	0–4
New York	2–2	2–2	1–3	3–1	1–3	3–1	3–0	2–2	2–2	3–1	4–0	1–3	1–3	3–1	3–1	—	1–3	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–1	2–2
Philadelphia	2–2	4–0	3–1	1–3	3–1	3–1	4–0	3–1	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–2	2–1	4–0	2–2	3–1	—	2–1	2–2	3–1	3–1	2–2
Phoenix	1–3	2–2	4–0	2–2	2–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	3–1	3–1	4–0	3–1	3–1	2–2	3–1	3–1	1–2	—	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–2
Portland	3–1	3–1	3–1	3–1	4–0	1–3	3–1	3–1	2–2	3–1	4–0	4–0	3–1	3–1	1–3	3–0	2–2	3–1	—	2–2	3–1	2–1
San Antonio	3–1	4–0	3–1	2–2	4–0	1–2	2–1	1–3	3–1	3–1	4–0	2–2	2–2	4–0	3–1	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–2	—	2–2	2–2
Seattle	1–2	4–0	3–1	2–2	1–3	3–1	3–1	2–2	4–0	3–1	3–1	3–1	3–1	2–2	2–1	1–3	1–3	2–2	1–3	2–2	—	1–3
Washington	3–1	3–1	3–1	1–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–3	2–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	4–0	2–2	2–2	2–2	1–2	2–2	3–1	—

References

1. Sportsecyclopedia.com – Buffalo Braves (1970-1978)