The Lakers Last Gasp
The 1976 Lakers play their last regulation game of the season in Phoenix with the last spot in the playoffs on the line
PHOENIX, AZ - April 9, 1976
Last night the L.A. Lakers faced off against the Phoenix Suns here in Phoenix. The winner would be in the driver’s seat for the final playoff spot in the West. If the Lakers lost they would be eliminated.
Elimination for the Lakers would be shocking. After all, the Lakers have the most dominant player of the 1970s, Kareem Abdul Jabbar. And Kareem is having yet another MVP season. He’s a virtual lock to win his 4th MVP award when the voting is conducted. Kareem is scoring 28 points per game, and leads the NBA in rebounds with 17 per game and blocks with 4. In addition, he is even dishing out 5 assists per game.
And the Lakers are coached by the legendary Bill Sharman of former Boston Celtics glory. It was Sharman who piloted the Lakers to their 33 game winning streak and the best record up til now in NBA history at 69 - 13 just 4 years ago.
And yet the Lakers entered the game last night in Phoenix in a most precarious situation. They have a 40 - 41 record. Phoenix is 40 - 40.
Phoenix had been in last place at 18 - 27 back at the end of January. While the Lakers had been as much as 7 games over .500 back in late December.
But the Lakers downfall has been their inability to win on the road. The Lakers entered the game last night with a stellar home record of 31 - 10, but an abysmal road record of 9 - 31.
This inexplicable inability to win on the road is likely due to their lack of a high performing point guard. The Lakers’ point guard here in 1976 is Lucius Allen. He’s a solid NBA guard, but not a super point guard. He’s averaging under 5 assists per game.
In the game, Suns’ rookie point guard, Ricky Sobers helped Phoenix get off to a fast start. Sobers has come on strong in the 2nd half of the season, and scored 10 in the opening quarter, fueling the Suns as they raced out to a 31 - 22 lead. The Suns extended the lead to 56 - 43 at halftime.
In the 3rd quarter, Kareem got untracked and scored 15 points, but the Lakers still couldn’t make up any ground and trailed 85 - 71 going into the 4th quarter. And there was no heroic comeback in the 4th. The Suns won the game 113 - 98.
The Lakers are out and the Suns, with both a rookie point guard and an undersized rookie center in 6’9” Alvan Adams are a surprise playoff team, locking up the last spot.
So the Lakers finish the season as the 1st team in NBA history to win more than 30 at home and win less than 10 games on the road.
This demonstrates the consequences of not having an all-star point guard.
NOTE from The Sports Time Traveler
Despite the presence of Kareem Abdul Jabbar, in his prime, the Lakers did not ascend again to the NBA elite until they got Magic Johnson in 1979.