Summary
After a year as the Capital Bullets, the former Baltimore team became known as the Washington Bullets, though there was no move involved.
An expansion team, the New Orleans Jazz, entered the Central Division of the Western Conference, bringing the NBA to 18 franchises. As a result, the playoff system was revised slightly.
The teams with the fourth and fifth best records in each conference met in a best-of-five series to determine which would advance into the conference semifinals.
Led by the scoring of Elvin Hayes, the rebounding and defense of Wes Unseld, and the play-making of NBA assists leader Kevin Porter, the Bullets improved by 13 games and tied the defending champion Boston Celtics for the most victories with 60. Those two teams had both finished first in their divisions the previous year.
In the Western Conference, both divisions were shuffled. Milwaukee still had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but the Bucks plunged from first to last in the Midwest Division after Oscar Robertson's retirement. The Lakers, without Jerry West, also dropped to last place in the Pacific Division. The second-place teams from 1973-74, Chicago and Golden State, moved into the top spots, but they both had poorer records than the Buffalo Braves, who finished second to the Celtics in the Atlantic Division.
Washington fought through a tough seven-game series against the Braves, who were led by Bob McAdoo, the league's top scorer, while the Celtics easily eliminated Houston in five games. The Bullets, coached by former Celtic K. C. Jones, then beat Boston in six to advance to the finals.
The top two teams in the West also met in the conference finals, with Golden State winning the last two games to take a seven-game series from Chicago.
Golden State wasn't given much of a chance in the championship series against Washington. The Warriors were led by forwards Rick Barry and Jamaal Wilkes, who won the Rookie of the Year award. Barry had not only finished second in scoring, he led the league in steals and free throw percentage and was sixth in assists.
Behind those two, Golden State had no stars but great depth. Coach Al Attles used 11 players consistently, and that proved to be the difference. Golden State surprised everyone by sweeping Chicago in four close games, winning two of them by a point.
