Every 1976-77 NBA race charted day by day: East, Atlantic, Central, West, Midwest and Pacific. Final standings, from a season that ran October 21, 1976 to April 10, 1977.
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East standings, 1976-77
Team
W
L
Pct
GB
L10
Streak
Philadelphia 76ers (PHL)
50
32
.610
-
6-4
L1
Houston Rockets (HOU)
49
33
.598
1
4-6
L2
Washington Bullets (WAS)
48
34
.585
2
6-4
W1
Boston Celtics (BOS)
44
38
.537
6
6-4
W3
San Antonio Spurs (SAN)
44
38
.537
6
4-6
L2
Cleveland Cavaliers (CLE)
43
39
.524
7
5-5
L2
New York Knicks (NYK)
40
42
.488
10
7-3
W2
New Orleans Jazz (NOJ)
35
47
.427
15
5-5
W1
Atlanta Hawks (ATL)
31
51
.378
19
2-8
L3
Buffalo Braves (BUF)
30
52
.366
20
3-7
L2
New York Nets (NYN)
22
60
.268
28
1-9
L3
Final standings.
Turning points
The lead changed hands 20 times.
The Philadelphia 76ers trailed by as many as 4 games on November 9, 1976.
The Philadelphia 76ers took first place for good on March 27, 1977.
The Houston Rockets won 9 games in a row from March 2, 1977 to March 17, 1977, the longest run of the race.
The Cleveland Cavaliers led by 3 games as late as November 18, 1976.
The Philadelphia 76ers led by as many as 3.5 games on January 23, 1977.
The Philadelphia 76ers went 13-6 from December 4, 1976 to January 16, 1977, turning a deficit of 4 games into a lead of 2.5 games.
The top two ended the day within one game of each other on 77 of the 149 days played.
The Philadelphia 76ers spent 73 of the season's 172 charted days in first place.