Dr. J - The Forgotten GOAT

Julius "Dr. J" Erving is deserving of being in the conversation for the Greatest-Of-All-Time

INDIANAPOLIS - December 12, 1975

I’m following the 1976 New York Nets, of the ABA, day-by-day precisely 50 years ago. Last night was another thriller.

Julius “Dr. J” Erving was having a tough night as he was shut down in the 1st half by the Indiana Pacers’ Billy Knight. Dr. J managed just 4 points. Fortunately, Nets’ guard Brian Taylor was brilliant shooting 10 for 11 from the field in the 1st half and the Nets went into the locker room with a 3 point lead at 52 - 49.

The game remained close and went into overtime. In the OT, the Nets were up by 4 with just 11 seconds remaining when Pacers’ point guard Don Buse hit a three.

With 8 seconds left the Pacers fouled Dr. J. But Erving missed BOTH free throws. And the Pacers fed the ball immediately to Knight who scored on a layup to give Indiana the lead with 5 seconds to go.

At this point the score was 123 - 122 Indiana, and in the battle of the small forwards it was Knight 36 - Erving 21.

Nets’ coach Kevin Loughery designed a last chance play for either Erving or Taylor. The inbounds pass went to Dr. J. But guarded by 3 players Erving somehow got the ball perfectly to Taylor who nailed a 15 footer to win the game 124 - 123.

For Dr. J it was his team leading 9th assist of the game to go along with a team high 16 boards. But he could only manage to shoot 8 for 18 from the field for a 21 point night, 9 below his league leading average.

Dr. J, on a “terrible” night, found a way to make a teammate shine and for his team to win.

Sadly, the game was not on TV. And only 5,392 fans were at the game in Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

But if we could have seen it, then it would be one more demonstration of why Julius “Dr. J” Erving deserves recognition as one of the GOATs of professional basketball.

Here’s the description of that final game-winning play from The New York Daily News on December 12, 1975: