April 3, 1975 - The Nets' Dr. J Answers an Emergency Call
The Nets are down 16 points with 4 minutes to play and the ABA's Eastern Division Title on the line
50 years ago last night the ABA’s New York Nets, led by the best basketball player in the world, Julius Erving, went down to Norfolk, Virginia to play the worst team in ABA history, the Virginia Squires, in the final game of the 1974-1975 regular season.
The Nets came into the game tied for first place in the Eastern Division with the Kentucky Colonels at 57 - 26. The Nets had to win to ensure they would earn a spot in a one-game playoff in Kentucky the following night.
The Nets were playing without their big center Billy Paultz who went down with a groin strain in the prior game. But they still had their two superstar forwards Julius Erving and Larry Kenon.
The Sports Time Traveler just had to go back to experience this game.
The Squires scored the game’s first basket, but then the Nets took over as expected scoring 10 straight. The Nets pushed the lead to 10 at 18 - 8. Things looked fine for the Nets. But then the offense stalled. Julius Erving, who was hampered by a bad back, had just 2 points late in the 1st quarter when coach Kevin Loughery gave him a rest.
With Dr. J on the bench the Squires went on a 17 - 6 run to take a 25 - 24 lead early in the 2nd quarter. But when Loughery reinserted Dr. J, the Nets re-took the lead at halftime.
NETS 49 - SQUIRES 45 - Halftime
At the start of the 2nd half the Nets didn’t score for the first three-and-a-half minutes and the Squires took the lead. The Nets kept it close however and at the end of the 3rd quarter it was 77 - 73 Virginia.
But in the 4th quarter Virginia went on a rampage and boosted their lead to 97 - 80 with 7 minutes to go.
A little while later they still led by 16 at 99 - 83 with just 4:17 remaining.
The Nets are down by 16 with 4 minutes to play
The Nets were being crushed by a Squires team that had nothing left to play for, that had already set the ABA record for most losses in a season, that had lost 19 of their last 20 games, and had lost all 10 of their previous games to the Nets this season.
Dr. J, who was averaging 28 points per game, had only scored 20 so far in the game.
At this point, Nets coach Kevin Loughery deployed a full court press.
Larry Fox wrote in the New York Daily News, “With Julius Erving all things are possible and the Doctor… performed another of his miracles.”
Erving is quite simply the best basketball player on the planet here in 1975. Last season he became the only player ever in the ABA or NBA to have a season in which he averaged:
25+ points
10+ rebounds
5+ assists
2+ steals
2+ blocks
Larry Fox described what happened next on court, “In only two and a half minutes, Erving hit a home run, then a layup and Brian Taylor followed with a jumper. Two more baskets by Erving to give him 9 points in a Net run of 11 and it was a ball game.”
That pulled the Nets to within 5 at 99 - 94 with 2 minutes to play.
Still, with 1:05 to play Virginia was ahead by 6 at 103 - 97. Then Dr. J hit a pair of free throws, Wendell Ladner hit a jump shot, and Super John Williamson stole a ball, and fed it to Erving for a game tying dunk with 28 seconds to go.
The game went to overtime tied at 103.
Erving started the overtime with a jump shot and the Nets never trailed as they went on to win it 116 - 111.
Dr. J scored 18 points in the final 9 minutes including the overtime.
With Kentucky winning their final game, the Nets and Colonels will meet in a one-game playoff for the Eastern Division title in Kentucky tomorrow.
Meanwhile the Squires season has ended with an ABA worst ever record of 15 - 69.
Here's a follow up to the article. 50 years ago today (April 5, 1975) newspapers reported the results of the one-game playoff for the ABA's Eastern Division Title.
The Nets big all-star center Billy Paultz, who suffered a debilitating groin injury in the 2nd to last game of the regular season started the game. But he was totally ineffective. He went 0 for 2 from the field and scored 0 points in just 14 minutes. Back up center Willie Sojourner, who is only 6'-8" was even worse. He went 0 for 4 and scored 0 points in 28 minutes.
With the Nets completely ineffective at the center position, the Colonels raced out to a 47 - 29 lead in the 2nd quarter.
Then Nets coach Kevin Loughery put Julius "Dr. J" Erving, at 6'-7" in the center position. He was going up against the biggest center in the ABA, Artis Gilmore, who is 7'-2". And the bleeding stopped.
By the end of the 3rd quarter the Nets were only down by 6 points at 87 - 81.
With 1:40 to play in the game the Nets pulled to within 3 at 102 - 99.
But the Nets didn't score after that and Kentucky put away the game 108 - 99.
Artis Gilmore, playing at home, had a devastating game. He scored 28 on 13 for 19 shooting and he pulled down 33 rebounds. Gilmore outrebounded the entire Nets team 33 - 30.
While the Nets lost the Eastern Division regular season title to Kentucky, the Nets are still in the playoffs. They will face the Spirit of St. Louis in a best of 7 series in the first round of the playoffs.