1966–67 Philadelphia 76ers season

The 1966–67 season of the Philadelphia 76ers was their 14th season in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and their 4th since moving from Syracuse (as well as their final season at the Philadelphia Civic Center, before moving to the Spectrum in South Philadelphia the next season).

1966–67 Philadelphia 76ers season
NBA champions
Division champions
Head coach	Alex Hannum
Arena	Philadelphia Arena and Civic Center-Convention Hall
Results
Record	68–13 (.840)
Place	Division: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finish	NBA Champions (Defeated Warriors, 4–2)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	WFIL-TV
Radio	WCAU

This season set a record in winning percentage and they won the NBA Finals for the franchise's second championship and first in Philadelphia. This team was later chosen as the greatest individual team in 1980 for the NBA 35th Anniversary Team.

During the off-season, the 76ers dismissed head coach & former 76ers (Syracuse Nationals) player Dolph Schayes of fame. Alex Hannum, (a former 1950s power forward, who was the last man to coach a winner past the Boston Celtics) was the new coach. The 43-year-old Hannum looked like he could still play, and often ran with the club in practice.

Wilt Chamberlain's 8 assists per game set a record for centers and made him 3rd in the NBA overall while scoring 24 points per game and once again leading the NBA in rebounds and blocked shots (though not yet officially recorded). Shooting less, he made a league-record 68% of his shots; his 875 free throw attempts, another league record, offset his terrible percentage from the foul line.

The 76ers also had three other players around the 20-point-per-game mark that season in Hal Greer with 22 points & Chet Walker & Billy Cunningham with 19 points each. The four players combined (as well as the rest of the roster) won a then-league-record 68 games together under Hannum's watch. The team averaged a record 125 points per game, leading all teams in shooting accuracy.

The 76ers started the season at 46–4, which remains the best 50-game start in the NBA history (though tied in the Warriors 2015-16 season). They finished the season at 68–13, the best record in league history at the time. In the 1st round of the playoffs, they swept the Cincinnati Royals, then in the Eastern Conference Finals, defeated the Boston Celtics (a team that had won 8 consecutive titles & 9 out of the last 10) 4 games to 1. In the Finals, they defeated the San Francisco Warriors, 4 games to 2.[1]

In 1996, the 1966-67 76ers were named as one of the Top 10 Teams in NBA History.

Offseason

NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	9	Matt Guokas	(G/F)	United States	St. Joseph's

Roster

Roster listing

1966–67 Philadelphia 76ers roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY-MM-DD) From C 13 Chamberlain, Wilt 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 275 lb (125 kg) 1936-08-21 Kansas PG 21 Costello, Larry 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 186 lb (84 kg) 1931-07-02 Niagara University F 32 Cunningham, Billy 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1943-06-03 North Carolina F 20 Gambee, Dave 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1937-04-16 Oregon State G 15 Greer, Hal 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1936-06-26 Marshall SG 14 Guokas, Matt 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1944-02-25 Saint Joseph's F 54 Jackson, Luke 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1941-10-31 Texas–Pan American G 24 Jones, Wali 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1942-02-14 Villanova PG 28 Melchionni, Bill 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 1944-10-19 Villanova F 25 Walker, Chet 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 212 lb (96 kg) 1940-02-22 Bradley G 12 Weiss, Bob 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1942-05-07 Penn State	Head coach Alex Hannum Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Eastern Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
x-Philadelphia 76ers	68	13	.840	–	28–2	26–8	14–3	28–8
x-Boston Celtics	60	21	.741	8	27–4	25–11	8–6	30–6
x-Cincinnati Royals	39	42	.481	29	20–11	12–24	7–7	14–22
x-New York Knicks	36	45	.444	32	20–15	9–24	7–6	11–25
Baltimore Bullets	20	61	.247	48	12–20	3–30	5–11	7–29

Record vs. opponents

1966-67 NBA Records
Team	BAL	BOS	CHI	CIN	DET	LAL	NYK	PHI	SFW	STL
Baltimore	—	1–8	3–6	3–6	2–7	2–7	2–7	1–8	2–7	4–5
Boston	8–1	—	8–1	8–1	6–3	5–4	9–0	5–4	6–3	5–4
Chicago	6–3	1–8	—	5–4	4–5	6–3	3–6	1–8	3–6	4–5
Cincinnati	6–3	1–8	4–5	—	7–2	3–6	6–3	1–8	5–4	6–3
Detroit	7–2	3–6	5–4	2–7	—	5–4	4–5	0–9	2–7	2–7
Los Angeles	7–2	4–5	3–6	6–3	4–5	—	4–5	1–8	3–6	4–5
New York	7–2	0–9	6–3	3–6	5–4	5–4	—	1–8	5–4	4–5
Philadelphia	8–1	4–5	8–1	8–1	9–0	8–1	8–1	—	7–2	8–1
San Francisco	7–2	3–6	6–3	4–5	7–2	6–3	4–5	2–7	—	5–4
St. Louis	5–4	4–5	5–4	3–6	7–2	5–4	5–4	1–8	4–5	—

Game log

1966–67 Game log
October: 5–0 (Home: 4–0 ; Road: 1–0) Game Date Opponent Score Record Streak 1 October 15 New York Knicks 128–112 1–0 Won 1 2 October 21 St. Louis Hawks 119–110 2–0 Won 2 3 October 22 @ Baltimore Bullets 141–112 3–0 Won 3 4 October 25 Baltimore Bullets 130–110 4–0 Won 4 5 October 29 Boston Celtics 138–96 5–0 Won 5
November: 15–2 (Home: 7–0 ; Road: 5–2 ; Neutral: 3–0) Game Date Opponent Score Record Streak 6 November 3 vs St. Louis Hawks 120–108 6–0 Won 6 7 November 4 San Francisco Warriors 134–129 7–0 Won 7 8 November 5 @ Boston Celtics 87–105 7–1 Lost 1 9 November 8 vs Detroit Pistons 118–100 8–1 Won 1 10 November 11 Chicago Bulls 126–113 9–1 Won 2 11 November 12 @ Cincinnati Royals 112–98 10–1 Won 3 12 November 13 @ Chicago Bulls 132–126 11–1 Won 4 13 November 15 @ New York Knicks 113–109 12–1 Won 5 14 November 16 New York Knicks 117–108 13–1 Won 6 15 November 18 vs Chicago Bulls 145–120 14–1 Won 7 16 November 19 Cincinnati Royals 134–110 15–1 Won 8 17 November 23 @ Cincinnati Royals 106–111 15–2 Lost 1 18 November 24 San Francisco Warriors 140–123 16–2 Won 1 19 November 25 @ Baltimore Bullets 129–115 17–2 Won 2 20 November 26 Detroit Pistons 131–123 18–2 Won 3 21 November 29 St. Louis Hawks 137–116 19–2 Won 4 22 November 30 @ Detroit Pistons 128–119 20–2 Won 5
December: 15–1 (Home: 6–0 ; Road: 7–1 ; Neutral: 2–0) Game Date Opponent Score Record Streak 23 December 2 Los Angeles Lakers 138–130 21–2 Won 6 24 December 3 @ Baltimore Bullets 137–120 22–2 Won 7 25 December 6 Chicago Bulls 129–119 23–2 Won 8 26 December 7 @ Chicago Bulls 117–103 24–2 Won 9 27 December 9 New York Knicks 112–107 25–2 Won 10 28 December 10 @ St. Louis Hawks 133–123 26–2 Won 11 29 December 11 @ Boston Celtics 103–117 26–3 Lost 1 30 December 13 @ New York Knicks 127–112 27–3 Won 1 31 December 16 St. Louis Hawks 124–113 28–3 Won 2 32 December 17 vs Detroit Pistons 120–105 29–3 Won 3 33 December 21 @ Los Angeles Lakers 129–123 30–3 Won 4 34 December 22 @ San Francisco Warriors 116–114 31–3 Won 5 35 December 23 @ Los Angeles Lakers 118–107 32–3 Won 6 36 December 26 Cincinnati Royals 134–118 33–3 Won 7 37 December 28 Boston Celtics 113–108 34–3 Won 8 38 December 30 vs Detroit Pistons 137–113 35–3 Won 9
January: 12–3 (Home: 6–1 ; Road: 4–1 ; Neutral: 2–1) Game Date Opponent Score Record Streak 39 January 3 @ New York Knicks 148–142 (OT) 36–3 Won 10 40 January 4 Chicago Bulls 136–115 37–3 Won 11 41 January 5 vs New York Knicks 104–112 37–4 Lost 1 42 January 6 Baltimore Bullets 121–115 (OT) 38–4 Won 1 43 January 8 @ Chicago Bulls 117–108 39–4 Won 2 44 January 13 St. Louis Hawks 125–107 40–4 Won 3 45 January 15 @ Boston Celtics 110–95 41–4 Won 4 46 January 17 New York Knicks 119–111 42–4 Won 5 47 January 18 @ Detroit Pistons 113–105 43–4 Won 6 48 January 19 vs Chicago Bulls 127–102 44–4 Won 7 49 January 20 Los Angeles Lakers 119–108 45–4 Won 8 50 January 23 vs St. Louis Hawks 112–105 46–4 Won 9 51 January 24 Boston Celtics 106–118 46–5 Lost 1 52 January 27 Cincinnati Royals 110–107 47–5 Won 1 53 January 29 @ St. Louis Hawks 108–114 47–6 Lost 1
February: 11–4 (Home: 2–0 ; Road: 4–3 ; Neutral: 5–1) Game Date Opponent Score Record Streak 54 February 1 @ Los Angeles Lakers 133–143 47–7 Lost 2 55 February 2 vs San Francisco Warriors 120–137 47–8 Lost 3 56 February 4 vs San Francisco Warriors 140–127 48–8 Won 1 57 February 5 @ Los Angeles Lakers 130–123 49–8 Won 2 58 February 7 vs San Francisco Warriors 126–123 50–8 Won 3 59 February 8 @ Cincinnati Royals 118–106 51–8 Won 4 60 February 10 Los Angeles Lakers 148–131 52–8 Won 5 61 February 11 @ Baltimore Bullets 133–139 52–9 Lost 1 62 February 12 @ Boston Celtics 112–113 52–10 Lost 2 63 February 13 Cincinnati Royals 131–123 53–10 Won 1 64 February 15 @ Detroit Pistons 127–121 54–10 Won 2 65 February 17 vs Cincinnati Royals 127–118 55–10 Won 3 66 February 19 @ St. Louis Hawks 123–122 56–10 Won 4 67 February 24 vs Baltimore Bullets 149–118 57–10 Won 5 68 February 28 vs Cincinnati Royals 127–107 58–10 Won 6
March: 10–3 (Home: 3–1 ; Road: 5–1 ; Neutral: 2–1) Game Date Opponent Score Record Streak 69 March 1 vs Chicago Bulls 122–129 58–11 Lost 1 70 March 2 San Francisco Warriors 136–128 59–11 Won 1 71 March 3 vs Detroit Pistons 129–103 60–11 Won 2 72 March 5 Detroit Pistons 131–106 61–11 Won 3 73 March 6 vs Los Angeles Lakers 119–117 62–11 Won 4 74 March 8 @ Boston Celtics 115–113 (OT) 63–11 Won 5 75 March 11 Boston Celtics 114–116 63–12 Lost 1 76 March 12 @ New York Knicks 131–120 64–12 Won 1 77 March 14 @ San Francisco Warriors 139–110 65–12 Won 2 78 March 15 @ Los Angeles Lakers 138–123 66–12 Won 3 79 March 16 @ San Francisco Warriors 131–145 66–13 Lost 1 80 March 18 Baltimore Bullets 135–119 67–13 Won 1 81 March 19 @ Baltimore Bullets 132–129 68–13 Won 2
Season schedule

Player stats

Note: GP= Games played; PTS= Points; REB= Rebounds; AST= Assists; BLK= Blocks; STL= Steals;

Player	GP	PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL

NBA finals

Game	Date	Home Team	Result	Road Team
Game 1	April 14	Philadelphia	141–135	San Francisco
Game 2	April 16	Philadelphia	126–95	San Francisco
Game 3	April 18	San Francisco	130–124	Philadelphia
Game 4	April 20	San Francisco	108–122	Philadelphia
Game 5	April 23	Philadelphia	109–117	San Francisco
Game 6	April 24	San Francisco	122–125	Philadelphia

76ers win series 4–2

Awards and Records

• Wilt Chamberlain, NBA Most Valuable Player Award
• Wilt Chamberlain, All-NBA First Team
• Hal Greer, All-NBA Second Team

References

1. Sachare, Alex (2008). "NBA Encyclopedia Playoff Edition: The Best Team Ever". NBA.com. Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved April 13, 2008.

• Philadelphia 76ers on Basketball Reference