The 1974–75 Buffalo Braves season was the fifth season of the club in the National Basketball Association. It was the team's third season under head coach Jack Ramsay. The team's home arena was the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, with six "home" games played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
Despite losing three key players in Gar Heard, Jim McMillian and Ernie DiGregorio for long stretches, the Braves continued to improve. Buffalo finished second in the Atlantic Division to Boston, with a record of 49–33 and a .598 winning percentage; this would endure as the club's best record for 37 years, until the twice-relocated Los Angeles Clippers amassed a 40–26 mark (.606) in the 2011–12 season. Bob McAdoo captured the NBA MVP Award, leading the league with 34.5 points per game, while adding 14.1 rebounds per contest, fourth-best in the NBA.
In the 1975 NBA Playoffs, the Braves earned the franchise's second playoff berth, this time against the Washington Bullets. The series went to the full seven games, with Washington taking the deciding contest, 115–96, at home. After the season, the team was occupied with legal wrangling surrounding the departure of minority owner and general manager Eddie Donovan.
Offseason On March 21, Braves general manager Eddie Donovan announced that he would resign effective April 1. The resignation was controversial because there were rumors that he would return to work for his prior team, New York Knicks, but there were simultaneous rumors that the Knicks had unfairly tampered with Donovan while under contract with the Braves. Upon the announced resignation, NBA Commissioner Walter Kennedy announced that the league would conduct a hearing on the matter. The transition was complicated by Donovan's 5% ownership of the Braves. Incoming commissioner, Larry O'Brien announced an amicable settlement as one of his first orders of business.
NBA draft
The following members of the 1974–75 Buffalo Braves were drafted during the 1974 NBA draft. McMillen played for a year in Europe before joining the 1975–76 Buffalo Braves. He played for a team in Bologna, Italy. Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 9 Tom McMillen Center Maryland 3 45 Kim Hughes Center Wisconsin 4 63 Bernie Harris Forward Virginia Commonwealth 5 81 Tony Byers Guard Wake Forest 6 99 Gary Link Forward Missouri 7 117 Tommy Curtis Guard UCLA 8 135 Glenn Price Forward St. Bonaventure 9 153 John Falconi Guard Davidson 10 170 Andy Rimol Forward Princeton
Roster
Roster notes Forward Bernie Harris played in only 11 games before being waived in January. Guard Bob Weiss came back to the franchise as an assistant coach with the San Diego Clippers from 1978 to 1980 and as a coach for the Los Angeles Clippers from 1993 to 1994.
Regular season
Overview An early eleven-game winning streak helped the Braves achieve a 16–4 record to start the season and a later seven-game streak took them to 31–16. Buffalo supplanted the New York Knicks as Boston's closest competitor in the Atlantic foursome with 49 wins and 33 losses. Buffalo boasted high-scoring super star Bob McAdoo, who posted a 34.5 scoring average to lead the NBA, while making more field goals than any other player. He also led in minutes played, while also ranking among the best rebounders and shot blockers in the league. McAdoo also earned 798 free throw tries, another league high, converting 81% of his attempts. The Braves lost reigning NBA Rookie of the Year Ernie DiGregorio to a knee injury that limited him to 31 games, watched former Laker Jim McMillian battle illness that caused him to miss 20 games, and also lost Gar Heard for 15 games, which dropped the team from the elite and put more of the load on their star. The Braves attendance increased by 40,000 to 467,267 in their 41 home games, but the team fell to 5th of 18 teams. The team defense improved sufficiently to create an average 2.2-point scoring margin after a slight average deficit the year before.
McMillian ranked tenth in the league in field goal percentage. Heard ranked 9th in blocks per game (1.8). Jack Marin, who played in 81 games, ranked seventh in free throw percentage (86.9%). Randy Smith, who played in all 82 regular-season games for the third consecutive season, finished fourth in assists per game (6.5). McAdoo, who also played all 82 games, led the NBA in minutes played, field goals, rebounds (ranked fourth per game), points, and points per game. Meanwhile, he ranked sixth in blocks per game, second in total free throws, and fifth in field goal percentage. This performance earned him the league MVP and first team All-NBA honors.
October–November As he had the season before, DiGregorio had a tremendous opening night with 33 points. The Braves defeated the defending champion Boston Celtics 126–119, giving them their first win in nine games against Boston as a visitor. The Celtics had eliminated the Braves from the 1975 NBA Playoffs. DiGregorio was sidelined after six games due to knee surgery. After a 4–3 start, the Braves won eleven in a row starting with a November 3, 1974, victory over the Los Angeles Lakers at the Los Angeles Forum and culminating with a November 23 victory over the Phoenix Suns at home. In order to win the eighth game of the streak, the Braves had to overcome a seventeen-point deficit to earn a 111–106 victory against the Golden State Warriors. Even after losing to the Chicago Bulls on November 24, their 15–4 record was the best in the NBA.
December–January During December, the Braves dealt with injuries to McMillan, who required an emergency appendectomy, and DiGregorio. After their great start, the Braves compiled a 6–7 month of December. On December 19, despite 49 points by McAdoo, the Braves lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers. On December 28, the NBA's smallest player, Calvin Murphy scored a career-high 45 points to lead the Houston Rockets to a 125–117 victory over Buffalo. By January, Heard was suffering from a knee injury. As a result, in some games, the Braves only played seven players. In a January 3 game against the Detroit Pistons, Dale Schlueter was involved in two altercations that resulted in bench-clearing brawls. In January 1975, the Braves recorded a seven-game winning streak starting with a January 10 win over the Cavaliers and ending with a January 24 victory over the New York Knicks. In the fifth game of the streak, McAdoo outscored Pete Maravich 43–40 at New Orleans.
February–April Following an 11–4 January, the Braves struggled to a 7–7 record in February. On January 24, DiGregorio returned to the active roster following his October 29 knee cartilage injury. The March 13 victory against the Golden State Warriors established the franchise record for most wins in a season at 43, surpassing the prior season's total of 42. From March 14 to March 21, the Braves posted their season-worst four-game losing streak. Donovan announced his April 1 resignation in late March. In late March, DiGregorio was sidelined for the rest of the season. The Braves then went on a five-game winning streak from March 22 to March 29, but the team lost three of four April regular-season games.
Season standings
Season schedule
| 1 || October 18 || @ Boston || 126–119 || Ernie DiGregorio (33) || Heard, McAdoo (11) || Ernie DiGregorio (9) || Boston Garden15,320 || 1–0 |- | 2 || October 19 || Boston || 113–95 || Bob McAdoo (21) || Bob McAdoo (14) || Ernie DiGregorio (7) || Buffalo Memorial Auditorium15,288 || 1–1 |- | 3 || October 22 || New Orleans || 118–134 || Bob McAdoo (33) || Bob McAdoo (22) || Ernie DiGregorio (7) || Buffalo Memorial Auditorium8,251 || 2–1 |- | 4 || October 24 || New York || 91–111 || Bob McAdoo (28) || Heard, McAdoo, Schlueter (12) || Ernie DiGregorio (8) || Maple Leaf Gardens5,981 || 3–1 |- | 5 || October 26 || Chicago || 104–105 || Bob McAdoo (41) || Bob McAdoo (19) || Ernie DiGregorio (10) || Buffalo Memorial Auditorium12,767 || 4–1 |- | 6 || October 29 || @ Golden State || 101–130 || Bob McAdoo (35) || Bob McAdoo (20) || Ernie DiGregorio (8) || Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena4,221 || 4–2
| 7 || November 1 || @ Portland || 106–113 || Bob McAdoo (27) || Gar Heard (12) || Randy Smith (10) || Memorial Coliseum11,927 || 4–3 |- | 8 || November 3 || @ Los Angeles || 124–101 || Bob McAdoo (32) || Bob McAdoo (18) || Bob Weiss (9) || The Forum13,119 || 5–3 |- | 9 || November 6 || @ New Orleans || 110–98 || Bob McAdoo (41) || Gar Heard (13) || Bob Weiss (7) || Municipal Auditorium3,302 || 6–3 |- | 10 || November 9 || Detroit || 100–109 || Bob McAdoo (29) || Bob McAdoo (20) || Randy Smith (10) || Buffalo Memorial Auditorium12,113 || 7–3 |- | 11 || November 10 || @ Detroit || 124–117 || Bob McAdoo (27) || Gar Heard (13) || Randy Smith (10) || Cobo Arena4,301 || 8–3 |- | 12 || November 12 || Cleveland || 94–112 || Bob McAdoo (32) || Bob McAdoo (23) || Smith, Winfield (6) || Buffalo Memorial Auditorium7,664 || 9–3 |- | 13 || November 14 || @ Boston || 112–100 || Randy Smith (27) || Heard, McAdoo (11) || McAdoo, Weiss (5) || Providence Civic Center7,315 || 10–3 |- | 14 || November 16 || Kansas City–Omaha || 96–101 || Bob McAdoo (29) || Bob McAdoo (19) || Randy Smith (6) || Buffalo Memorial Auditorium8,274 || 11–3 |- | 15 || November 19 || Golden State || 106–111 || Bob McAdoo (43) || Bob McAdoo (19) || Randy Smith (9) || Buffalo Memorial Auditorium8,529 || 12–3 |- | 16 || November 20 || @ Washington || 115–104 || Randy Smith (28) || Heard, Marin, McAdoo (9) || Bob Weiss (8) || Capital Centre8,640 || 13–3 |- | 17 || November 21 || Philadelphia || 95–99 || Bob McAdoo (28) || Bob McAdoo (15) || Bob Weiss (8) || Maple Leaf Gardens5,467 || 14–3 |- | 18 || November 23 || Phoenix || 104–117 || Bob McAdoo (33) || Heard, Marin, McAdoo (11) || Bob Weiss (9) || Buffalo Memorial Auditorium12,743 || 15–3 |- | 19 || November 24 || @ Chicago || 89–91 || Bob McAdoo (31) || Bob McAdoo (18) || Bob Weiss (4) || Chicago Stadium13,346 || 15–4 |- | 20 || November 26 || @ Philadelphia || 103–99 || Bob McAdoo (46) || Gar Heard (15) || Lee Winfield (7) || The Spectrum8,110 || 16–4 |- | 21 || November 29 || Washington || 96–93 || Bob McAdoo (27) || Bob McAdoo (17) || Bob Weiss (4) || Buffalo Memorial Auditorium16,209 || 16–5 |- | 22 || November 30 || @ New York || 111–118 || Bob McAdoo (36) || Bob McAdoo (18) || Smith, Weiss (4) || Madison Square Garden19,694 || 16–6
| 23 || December 3 || Milwaukee || 110–101 || Bob McAdoo (37) || Gar Heard (16) || Gar Heard (5) || Buffalo Memorial Auditorium8,585 || 16–7 |- | 24 || December 6 || Portland || 105–114 || Bob McAdoo (38) || Bob McAdoo (18) || Bob Weiss (11) || Buffalo Memorial Auditorium10,724 || 17–7 |- | 25 || December 7 || @ Philadelphia || 112–116 || Bob McAdoo (34) || Bob McAdoo (13) || Randy Smith (8) || The Spectrum7,020 || 17–8 |- | 26 || December 10 || Philadelphia || 91–101 || Bob McAdoo (25) || Bob McAdoo (21) || McAdoo, Smith (5) || Buffalo Memorial Auditorium7,888 || 18–8 |- | 27 || December 12 || Houston || 113–124 || Bob McAdoo (32) || Dale Schlueter (10) || Randy Smith (13) || Maple Leaf Gardens4,519 || 19–8 |- | 28 || December 13 || New York || 104–108 || Bob McAdoo (42) || Bob McAdoo (23) || Charles, Heard, Smith (4) || Buffalo Memorial Auditorium12,774 || 20–8 |- | 29 || December 14 || @ New York || 118–102 || Bob McAdoo (37) || Bob McAdoo (15) || Gar Heard (7) || Madison Square Garden19,694 || 21–8 |- | 30 || December 17 || @ Kansas City–Omaha || 110–111 || Bob McAdoo (44) || Bob McAdoo (14) || Heard, Smith (6) || Kemper Arena5,179 || 21–9 |- | 31 || December 19 || @ Cleveland || 104–106 || Bob McAdoo (49) || Gar Heard (15) || Lee Winfield (4) || Richfield Coliseum6,876 || 21–10 |- | 32 || December 20 || Atlanta || 113–102 || Randy Smith (35) || Bob McAdoo (9) || Randy Smith (8) || Buffalo Memorial Auditorium7,843 || 21–11 |- | 33 || December 27 || @ Phoenix || 108–92 || McAdoo, McMillian (23) || Jack Marin (12) || Randy Smith (10) || Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum9,205 || 22–11