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1967 NBA Finals

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1967 NBA Finals
TeamCoachWins
Philadelphia 76ers Alex Hannum 4
San Francisco Warriors Bill Sharman 2
DatesApril 14–24
Hall of Famers76ers:
Wilt Chamberlain (1979)
Larry Costello (2022)
Billy Cunningham (1986)
Hal Greer (1982)
Chet Walker (2012)
Warriors:
Rick Barry (1987)
Nate Thurmond (1985)
Coaches:
Bill Sharman (2004)
Alex Hannum (1998)
Officials:
Mendy Rudolph (2007)
Earl Strom (1995)
Eastern finals76ers defeated Celtics, 4–1
Western finalsWarriors defeated Hawks, 4–2
← 1966 NBA finals 1968 →

The 1967 NBA World Championship Series was the championship series of the 1966–67 National Basketball Association (NBA) season, and it was the conclusion of the 1967 NBA Playoffs. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Division champion San Francisco Warriors and the Eastern Division champion Philadelphia 76ers. This was the first championship series in 11 years without the Boston Celtics, who were defeated in the Division Finals by Philadelphia, the first time since 1958 and the only time in the 1960s that the Boston Celtics did not win the NBA Finals. It matched two teams who had each relocated in the decade, as the Warriors had moved from Philadelphia to San Francisco in 1962 and the 76ers had been relocated from Syracuse, New York to replace the void left by the Warriors. Wilt Chamberlain had been the star of the Warriors since joining the team in 1959 (which included an MVP Award) but was traded to the 76ers in the middle of the 1965 season.

Under first-year head coach Alex Hannum (who had been fired by the Warriors the previous season) and an approach to have Chamberlain focus more on defense rather than scoring (which resulted in a shooting percentage of 68.3%), Philadelphia dominated the regular season with a 68–13 record, the most regular season wins in NBA history at the time as Chamberlain won his third MVP award. While they did win in six games, it was a tight affair that saw numerous records set (most notably by Rick Barry, who scored the second most amount of points by a player in a Finals at the time) as Game 1 required overtime and the decisive Game 6 saw the 76ers rally back from a six-point deficit in the fourth quarter to win the championship.[1][2] With the win, Alex Hannum (who had led the St. Louis Hawks to the NBA title in 1958) became the first coach to win a championship with two different franchises, a mark that has since been matched by just two other head coaches in NBA history.

Series summary

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Game Date Home team Result Road team
Game 1 April 14 Philadelphia 76ers 141–135* (1–0) San Francisco Warriors
Game 2 April 16 Philadelphia 76ers 126–95 (2–0) San Francisco Warriors
Game 3 April 18 San Francisco Warriors 130–124 (1–2) Philadelphia 76ers
Game 4 April 20 San Francisco Warriors 108–122 (1–3) Philadelphia 76ers
Game 5 April 23 Philadelphia 76ers 109–117 (3–2) San Francisco Warriors
Game 6 April 24 San Francisco Warriors 122–125 (2–4) Philadelphia 76ers

76ers win series 4–2
* denotes overtime

Game summaries

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Game 1

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April 14
San Francisco Warriors 135, Philadelphia 76ers 141 (OT)
Scoring by quarter: 30–43, 35–30, 28–34, 35–21, Overtime: 7–13
Pts: Rick Barry 37
Rebs: Nate Thurmond 31
Asts: Rick Barry 7		 Pts: Hal Greer 32
Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 33
Asts: Wilt Chamberlain 10
Philadelphia leads the series, 1–0

Game 2

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April 16
San Francisco Warriors 95, Philadelphia 76ers 126
Scoring by quarter: 17–26, 29–31, 23–28, 26–41
Pts: Rick Barry 30
Rebs: Nate Thurmond 29
Asts: Jim King 6		 Pts: Hal Greer 30
Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 38
Asts: Wilt Chamberlain 10
Philadelphia leads, 2–0

Wilt Chamberlain set a record for rebounds in a half with 26 in the first half.[3]

Game 3

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April 18
Philadelphia 76ers 124, San Francisco Warriors 130
Scoring by quarter: 35–32, 28–37, 29–29, 32–32
Pts: Hal Greer 26
Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 26
Asts: Wali Jones 7		 Pts: Rick Barry 55
Rebs: Nate Thurmond 25
Asts: Jim King 6
Philadelphia leads the series, 2–1

Scoring a postseason career-high 55 points on 48 attempts, Rick Barry tied the record set by Wilt Chamberlain in the 1962 playoffs for field goal attempts in one postseason game.[4]

Game 4

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April 20
Philadelphia 76ers 122, San Francisco Warriors 108
Scoring by quarter: 34–27, 26–22, 31–29, 31–30
Pts: Hal Greer 38
Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 27
Asts: Wilt Chamberlain 8		 Pts: Rick Barry 43
Rebs: Nate Thurmond 25
Asts: Nate Thurmond 5
Philadelphia leads, 3–1

Game 5

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April 23
San Francisco Warriors 117, Philadelphia 76ers 109
Scoring by quarter: 31–32, 30–32, 23–32, 33–13
Pts: Rick Barry 36
Rebs: Nate Thurmond 28
Asts: Al Attles 6		 Pts: Chet Walker 25
Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 24
Asts: Hal Greer 7
Philadelphia leads the series, 3–2

Game 6

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April 24
Philadelphia 76ers 125, San Francisco Warriors 122
Scoring by quarter: 43–41, 25–31, 28–30, 29–20
Pts: Wali Jones 27
Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 23
Asts: Hal Greer 7		 Pts: Rick Barry 44
Rebs: Nate Thurmond 22
Asts: Jim King 7
Philadelphia wins the NBA Finals, 4–2

The two teams combined for 84 points in the first quarter, which set a new postseason record. It was matched in the 1994 playoffs and 2003 but has not been surpassed.[5] The 76ers were trailing 106-102 early in the fourth quarter before Matt Guokas, a bench player for a majority of the season, took a quick pass off a rebound to throw in a 20-foot shot and quickly getting the ball again on a break and taking on Nate Thurmond when driving to the rim for a layup that tied the game along with knocking him out of the game when he crashed into the basket support. Chamberlain later exclaimed, "Gook! Gook! The rook showed us how!" In the final quarter, Chamberlain recorded eight rebounds and six blocks. The Warriors were trailing 123–122 with under 20 seconds remaining. An attempted pick and roll by Barry and Thurmond against Chamberlain saw a defensive struggle as Barry could not get a clean shot off when Chamberlain shifted his focus to Thurmond on an attempted pass, and a jump ball was forced on the rebound. Philadelphia scored a two-point shot to close out the scoring.[6]

Team rosters

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Philadelphia 76ers

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San Francisco Warriors

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San Francisco Warriors roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From
F 24 United States Barry, Rick 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Miami
G 16 United States Attles, Al 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) North Carolina A&T
F 31 United States Ellis, Joe 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 175 lb (79 kg) San Francisco
F 44 United States Hetzel, Fred 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Davidson
G 21 United States King, Jim 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Tulsa
F 35 United States LaRusso, Rudy 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Dartmouth
F 47 United States Lattin, Dave 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) UTEP
F/C 43 United States Lee, Clyde 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Vanderbilt
G/F 9 United States Lee, George 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Michigan
G 23 United States Mullins, Jeff 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Duke
F/C 42 United States Thurmond, Nate 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Bowling Green
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "NBA Series Finals Leaders and Records for Points". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  2. ^ "1967 NBA Finals Warriors vs. 76ers". Basketball Reference. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  3. ^ "NBA Individual Postseason Records for Rebounds". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  4. ^ "NBA Individual Postseason Records for Field Goals and Attempts". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  5. ^ "NBA Team Postseason Records for Points". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  6. ^ DEFORD, FRANK (May 8, 1967). "The waiting made it sweeter". vault.si.com.
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