1976–77 Houston Rockets season

The 1976–77 Houston Rockets season was the Rockets' 10th season in the NBA and 6th season in the city of Houston.1976–77 Houston Rockets

In the playoffs, the Rockets defeated the Washington Bullets in six games in the Semifinals before losing to the Philadelphia 76ers in six games in the conference finals.

Also, the Rockets radio broadcasts moved to KXYZ this season after five years on KPRC.

Offseason

Draft picks

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College11 (from Atlanta) G Maryland227 F Tulane

On June 7, 1976, the Houston Rockets acquired Dwight Jones and the first pick from the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Gus Bailey, Joe Meriweather and the ninth pick. The Rockets used the pick to draft John Lucas. The Hawks used the pick to draft Armond Hill.

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

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

Game log GameDateOpponentResultRecord 1October 21@ Atlanta Hawks W 120–104 1–0 2October 23vs. Phoenix Suns W 129–126 2–0 3October 27vs. Philadelphia 76ers L 94–116 2–1 4October 30Washington Bullets W 105–92 3–1 5November 3Boston Celtics W 117–111 (OT) 4–1 6November 5@ New York Nets L 91–95 4–2 7November 6@ Buffalo Braves L 102–117 4–3 8November 9@ Chicago Bulls W 111–92 5–3 9November 10Seattle SuperSonics W 99–97 6–3 10November 12@ Milwaukee Bucks L 99–111 6–4 11November 13New York Nets L 110–114 6–5 12November 17Buffalo Braves W 120–114 (OT)7–5 13November 20Kansas City Kings W 127–126 (OT)8–5 14November 24Golden State Warriors W 113–107 (OT)9–5 15November 25@ New Orleans Jazz W 105–99 10–5 16November 27San Antonio Spurs W 125–116 11–5 17December 1Detroit Pistons W 110–104 12–5 18December 2Milwaukee Bucks W 137–110 13–5 19December 4Indiana Pacers W 120–108 14–5 20December 8@ Phoenix Suns L 95–116 14–6 21December 10@ Los Angeles Lakers L 99–109 14–7 22December 11@ Golden State Warriors L 112–124 14–8 23December 12@ Seattle SuperSonics W 96–92 15–8 24December 14@ Portland Trail Blazers L 84–104 15–9 25December 16Atlanta Hawks W 118–107 16–9 26December 18New Orleans Jazz L 106–110 16–10 27December 22Washington Bullets W 111–90 17–10 28December 26@ Indiana Pacers W 93–79 18–10 29December 28@ New York Knicks L 99–111 18–11 30December 29Philadelphia 76ers W 93–91 19–11 31January 1 @ Washington Bullets L 89–104 19–12 32January 2 @ Cleveland Cavaliers L 80–104 19–13 33January 5 New York Knicks W 108–107 20–13 34January 7 Denver Nuggets L 107–117 20–14 35January 8 @ Kansas City Kings L 94–106 20–15 36January 11 @ Boston Celtics L 101–105 20–16 37January 12 @ Philadelphia 76ers L 97–102 20–17 38January 14 @ Milwaukee Bucks W 111–84 21–17 39January 15 Los Angeles Lakers W 122–116 22–17 40January 18 Chicago Bulls W 103–85 23–17 41January 19 Boston Celtics L 102–112 23–18 42January 21 @ Detroit Pistons L 86–109 23–19 43January 22 Portland Trail Blazers W 110–107 24–19 44January 27 Detroit Pistons W 114–107 25–19 45January 28 Atlanta Hawks W 118–104 26–19 46January 29 @ Atlanta Hawks L 97–101 26–20 47February 3 @ New York Knicks L 90–108 26–21 48February 5 New York Knicks W 105–103 27–21 49February 6 @ New Orleans Jazz L 90–99 27–22 50February 8 Cleveland Cavaliers W 97–81 28–22 51February 9 Chicago Bulls W 108–103 29–22 52February 11 San Antonio Spurs L 104–107 29–23 53February 16 Seattle SuperSonics W 124–95 30–23 54February 17 @ San Antonio Spurs W 113–99 31–23 55February 19 @ Kansas City Kings L 109–115 31–24 56February 22 @ Denver Nuggets L 106–118 31–25 57February 24 @ Phoenix Suns W 109–106 32–25 58February 25 @ Portland Trail Blazers W 123–106 33–25 59February 27 @ Los Angeles Lakers L 101–106 33–26 60March 2 Los Angeles Lakers W 120–113 34–26 61March 5 Milwaukee Bucks W 119–106 35–26 62March 6 @ New York Nets W 99–91 36–26 63March 7 @ Buffalo Braves W 128–107 37–26 64March 9 Phoenix Suns W 105–100 38–26 65March 11 @ Indiana Pacers W 124–109 39–26 66March 12 New Orleans Jazz W 120–104 40–26 67March 16 New York Nets W 100–86 41–26 68March 17 @ Cleveland Cavaliers W 88–87 42–26 69March 18 @ Philadelphia 76ers L 104–124 42–27 70March 19 Buffalo Braves W 110–104 43–27 71March 22 Indiana Pacers W 106–99 44–27 72March 23 Portland Trail Blazers W 109–104 45–27 73March 24 @ San Antonio Spurs L 112–118 45–28 74March 26 Kansas City Kings W 107–97 46–28 75March 27 @ Detroit Pistons L 100–115 46–29 76March 29 @ Golden State Warriors L 92–109 46–30 77March 30 @ Seattle SuperSonics L 105–111 46–31 78April 1 @ Washington Bullets W 91–85 47–31 79April 2 Cleveland Cavaliers W 106–93 48–31 80April 6 @ Boston Celtics W 104–93 49–31 81April 8 @ Chicago Bulls L 109–11349–32 82April 9 Denver Nuggets L 110–118 49–33

Playoffs

| 1 | April 19 | Washington | L 101–111 | Mike Newlin (24) | Moses Malone (10) | John Lucas (7) | The Summit15,458 | 0–1 |- | 2 | April 21 | Washington | W 124–118 (OT) | Moses Malone (31) | Moses Malone (26) | Mike Newlin (9) | The Summit15,676 | 1–1 |- | 3 | April 24 | @ Washington | L 90–93 | Malone, Lucas (18) | Moses Malone (15) | John Lucas (8) | Capital Centre16,842 | 1–2 |- | 4 | April 26 | @ Washington | W 107–103 | Rudy Tomjanovich (28) | Moses Malone (13) | Mike Newlin (7) | Capital Centre19,035 | 2–2 |- | 5 | April 29 | Washington | W 123–115 | Calvin Murphy (40) | Moses Malone (22) | Mike Newlin (6) | The Summit15,676 | 3–2 |- | 6 | May 1 | @ Washington | W 108–103 | Rudy Tomjanovich (26) | Moses Malone (14) | Calvin Murphy (9) | Capital Centre12,393 | 4–2

| 1 | May 5 | @ Philadelphia | L 117–128 | Moses Malone (32) | Moses Malone (12) | Calvin Murphy (13) | Spectrum17,507 | 0–1 |- | 2 | May 8 | @ Philadelphia | L 97–106 | Calvin Murphy (32) | Moses Malone (18) | Mike Newlin (11) | Spectrum14,855 | 0–2 |- | 3 | May 11 | Philadelphia | W 118–94 | Moses Malone (30) | Moses Malone (25) | John Lucas (9) | The Summit15,676 | 1–2 |- | 4 | May 13 | Philadelphia | L 95–107 | Rudy Tomjanovich (24) | Kevin Kunnert (17) | John Lucas (14) | The Summit15,676 | 1–3 |- | 5 | May 15 | @ Philadelphia | W 118–115 | Tomjanovich, Lucas (21) | Moses Malone (19) | Calvin Murphy (10) | Spectrum18,276 | 2–3 |- | 6 | May 17 | Philadelphia | L 109–112 | John Lucas (24) | Moses Malone (16) | Tomjanovich, Murphy (5) | The Summit15,676 | 2–4

Awards and records Tom Nissalke, NBA Coach of the Year Award Ray Patterson, NBA Executive of the Year Award John Lucas, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team

References