The set-up: The Braves had finished the 72-73′ with a record of 21-61, marking their worst record in club history. It was so bad that seven of their 21 wins were against the Philadelphia 76ers, who owned the worst record in NBA history at 9-73. Even with the crappy season, the Braves had young players such as Randy Smith, Bob McAdoo and coach Jack Ramsay, who was going into his 3rd year with the club. However, 21-61? Eh. The locals were restless, as the Braves had averaged only 7,847 for their attendance during the season.
Things started to change for the Braves the following year, as they added 9 new players to the roster. The key addition was rookie shooting guard, Ernie DiGregorio (Not related to the pizza or John DiGiorgio), who could not only shoot, but could lead the fastbreak and pass the ball with such precision. In his debut as a Brave, Ed didn’t disappoint. He scored 27 points in front of over 10,000 Braves fans. The other big player acquisition was small forward Jim McMillian, who the Braves traded Elmore Smith to get. McMillian had played in the league for three years, averaging 18.9 points per game in 1972-73.
Here’s how Budd Bailey from TBN put it:
“McMillian was a purist’s delight, a smart player who was always in the right position and scored his points quietly but often. McMillian was a good match for two of the other small forwards in the Braves’ division, Boston’s John Havlicek and New York’s Bill Bradley.”
I swear, hearing Buffalo and John Havlicek in the same sentence is just awesome! Man, I wish I was born in the 60’s! And that has nothing to do with the crazy sex and drugs that were going on in the 70’s!
The key for the 73-74′ Braves was Bob McAdoo. Here’s Bailey’s take on him:
“The tempo of the Braves’ offense seemed to get faster as the season went along. McAdoo was unleashed at center, averaging about 30 points per game and causing match-up problems for everyone else in the league. Think Dirk Nowitzki, 30 years earlier.”
I dont think you can find a better player in Buffalo Sports history who had a 2nd year like McAdoo did. Sorry, Thomas Vanek and Thurman Thomas.
The highlight of the regular season was when Buffalo beat the Celtics on Feb. 27 for the first time in its history (22 straight losses). Just two nights later, they beat Boston again in front of over 18,000 fans at The Aud. In less than a year, the Braves went from less than 8,000 fans a game to 18,000. Nice.
The team’s 42-40 record was fourth in the Eastern Conference and had earned them their first playoff birth in team history. McAdoo led the league in scoring (30.6) and field-goal percentage (.547). General manager, Eddie Donovan, was named executive of the year. The awards didn’t stop coming, as DiGregorio was named rookie of the year after leading the league in assists and free-throw percentage. The team had balance on offense, as all five of the Braves starters averaged over 15 points a game.
Finally…basketball had arrived in Buffalo.
What happened: The Braves first round opponents were the Celtics. I’m sorry, but I’m totally smitten about this team right now. You can’t get any bigger than the Celtics in professional sports and we were about to take them to the limit. For the first four games of the series, both teams split their home games. The highlight for the Braves came in game 4, when the team was trailing 2-1 in the series and the game was tied at 102 with just seconds remaining. The Braves came down for the last shot of regulation. Of course, everyone knew who was going to get the ball, and that was McAdoo, who already scored a Braves playoff record 44 points. However, McAdoo missed a pull-up jumper, but McMillian was alone under the basket for the tip-in as the game ended. 104-102 was the final and the series was tied at two games a piece.
When the series shifted back to Boston for game 5, the Braves kept it close, but ended up falling to Boston by just three points. The leprechauns were now one win away from eliminating Buffalo. Game 6 of the series would go down as one of the most controversial moments in Buffalo Sports history. You would probably consider this to be first of many “Buffalo screw jobs.” John Boutet of the Buffalo Sports Museum and Greater Buffalo HOF, recaps the moment:
“The Braves trailed late in game 6 by four points. However, the Braves converted two steals into four points and tied the score at 104 and the Celtics had the ball with a few seconds left. JoJo White tried a jump shot just outside the paint, but when McAdoo tried for the block, he caught his arm as the ball left JoJo’s hands. The whistle blew with 1 second left on the clock. The timekeeper at the Aud had let the time run out and the horn blew after the ball landed.
However, the bigger question was if the foul occurred before or after the clock ran out?
Braves coach Jack Ramsay screamed that the foul had taken place with time left on the clock. Garretson refused to listen or even go over to the timekeeper to put any time left on the clock. JoJo went to the line and hit the free throws, as the Celtics wrapped up the series 4-2. Braves owner Paul Snyder pounded on the referees locker room door, demanding the game be protested. The NBA would have none of it as they had their darling Celtics moving on. The next day in the Courier Express, a full page photo of the foul taken by Bob Bukaty, clearly shows 1 second left on the clock after the foul. The Braves used the photo as evidence that the game had not ended, but the NBA stayed firm with their decision. Players on that team still today do not accept that the game has ever ended.”
Here’s my beef. If the foul happened after the time ran out, then it shouldn’t have counted and the game should have gone into OT. However, if the foul occurred with one second left, then the Braves should have had the ball with a second left on the clock. Crazy.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDaKVCXEiXE&w=425&h=349]
What if the refs didn’t blow the call? I’ll let John take this home: “Would the Braves have won in OT and game 7 in Boston? Who knows? Again, in my world, they would have. The Braves were the Celtics equals that year, and it would have been fun to see how far they could have gone. The excitement in the Aud for the Braves rarely exceeded that of the sister Sabres, but in 1974, it surpassed it by far. The Sabres failed to make the playoffs in ’74, so, the Braves had the entire city’s attention. Buffalo was Braves crazy in 1974 and again in 1975, but as the decade went, ownership focused more on making money on the team instead of winning. By 1978, NBA Basketball was gone from the WNY sports scene. Just think how that would have changed had the Braves not gotten screwed in 1974. They very well could have still been here.”
It should be noted that if the Braves won the series, they would have gone against the New York Knicks. Both teams split the season series at four games a piece. However, they did beat the Knicks in four of their last five encounters. Honestly, I don’t think the Braves would have won. The Celtics were a veteran team and usually in the NBA, the vets can beat out the young lions. The Braves were still very young and I think were another year or two away from really becoming a NBA Championship team. However, the reason why this makes the list is that it was the first of many screw jobs against Buffalo sports.
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