THC Science

1976–77 Indiana Pacers season
1976–77 Indiana Pacers season
Head coach	Bobby Leonard
Arena	Market Square Arena
Results
Record	36–46 (.439)
Place	Division: 5th (Midwest); Conference: 9th (Western)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
	Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	WTTV
Radio	WIBC
< 1975–76	1977–78 >

The 1976–77 NBA season was Indiana's first season in the NBA and tenth season as a franchise.^[1]

Offseason

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	8	Wil Jones†	PF	United States	Albany State

†In the 1976 ABA Dispersal Draft, ABA and NBA teams selected players that were on the Kentucky Colonels and the Spirits of St. Louis, the two ABA teams that were not included in the ABA–NBA merger in 1976. Wil Jones was a member of the Kentucky Colonels during the 1975–76 ABA season. Because the Pacers were in the ABA before the merger, they did not have any picks in the 1976 NBA draft.

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Height	Weight	From
SG	21	Anderson, Jerome	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	West Virginia
PF	9	Bennett, Mel	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Pittsburgh
PG	10	Buse, Don	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Evansville
C	41	Elmore, Len	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Maryland
SG	44	Flynn, Mike	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Kentucky
SF	24	Green, Steve	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Indiana
F	20	Hillman, Darnell	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	San José State
PF	22	Jones, Wil	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Albany State
SF	25	Knight, Billy	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Pittsburgh
C	40	Robisch, Dave	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Kansas
PF	32	Roundfield, Dan	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Central Michigan
SG	23	Williamson, John	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	New Mexico State

Head coach

Slick Leonard

Assistant coach(es)

Jerry Oliver

Legend

(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
Injured

Regular season

Buoyed by the sensational playmaking of Don Buse and scoring of Billy Knight, The Pacers hovered around the .500 mark for much of the first half of their inaugural NBA season but a lack of depth and a few injuries blunted the Pacers progress. The Pacers were significantly hampered by injuries to center, Len Elmore, who missed all but six games.

Season standings

Midwest Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Denver Nuggets	50	32	.610	–	36–5	14–27	15–5
x-Detroit Pistons	44	38	.537	6	30–11	14–27	12–8
x-Chicago Bulls	44	38	.537	6	31–10	13–28	10–10
Kansas City Kings	40	42	.488	10	28–13	12–29	7–13
Indiana Pacers	36	46	.439	14	25–16	11–30	9–11
Milwaukee Bucks	30	52	.366	20	24–17	6–35	7–13

#	Western Conference
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Los Angeles Lakers	53	29	.646	–
2	y-Denver Nuggets	50	32	.610	3
3	x-Portland Trail Blazers	49	33	.598	4
4	x-Golden State Warriors	46	36	.561	7
5	x-Detroit Pistons	44	38	.537	9
6	x-Chicago Bulls	44	38	.537	9

7	Kansas City Kings	40	42	.488	13
8	Seattle SuperSonics	40	42	.488	13
9	Indiana Pacers	36	46	.439	17
10	Phoenix Suns	34	48	.415	19
11	Milwaukee Bucks	30	52	.366	23

z – clinched division title

y – clinched division title

x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1976–77 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BOS	BUF	CHI	CLE	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	KCK	LAL	MIL	NOJ	NYK	NYN	PHI	PHO	POR	SAS	SEA	WAS
Atlanta	—	0–4	4–0	2–2	2–2	2–2	0–4	0–4	1–3	0–4	1–2	2–2	2–2	1–3	1–3	3–1	1–3	0–4	3–1	4–0	1–2	1–3
Boston	4–0	—	3–1	2–2	1–3	3–1	2–2	1–3	2–2	1–2	3–1	2–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–3	2–2	1–3	4–0	2–2	0–4
Buffalo	0–4	1–3	—	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	0–3	1–3	1–3	0–3	1–3	3–1	3–1	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–3	0–4	3–1	0–4
Chicago	2–2	2–2	3–1	—	3–1	1–3	2–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	3–1	4–0	2–2	2–1	2–2	2–2	0–4	3–1	2–2	1–2
Cleveland	2–2	3–1	2–2	1–3	—	2–2	1–3	2–2	1–3	2–1	3–1	2–2	4–0	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–3	2–1	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–3
Denver	2–2	1–3	2–2	3–1	2–2	—	3–1	2–2	3–0	3–1	3–1	2–2	3–1	3–1	2–2	3–1	1–3	3–1	2–2	1–2	4–0	2–2
Detroit	4–0	2–2	1–3	2–2	3–1	1–3	—	3–1	2–2	2–2	4–0	1–3	3–1	3–1	1–2	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	1–2	1–3	1–3
Golden State	4–0	3–1	3–0	2–2	2–2	2–2	1–3	—	2–1	4–0	1–3	2–2	1–3	1–3	1–3	3–1	3–1	4–0	1–3	2–2	1–3	3–1
Houston	3–1	2–2	3–1	3–1	3–1	0–3	2–2	1–2	—	4–0	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	1–3	3–1	3–1	2–2	3–1	3–1
Indiana	4–0	2–1	3–1	2–2	1–2	1–3	2–2	0–4	0–4	—	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–2	4–0	2–2	2–2	0–4	2–2	2–2	0–4
Kansas City	2–1	1–3	3–0	2–2	1–3	1–3	0–4	3–1	2–2	2–2	—	1–3	2–2	2–2	4–0	4–0	1–3	3–1	2–2	1–3	1–3	2–2
Los Angeles	2–2	1–2	3–1	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–2	2–2	3–1	3–1	—	3–1	3–0	1–3	4–0	2–2	3–1	3–1	3–1	3–1	4–0
Milwaukee	2–2	1–3	1–3	1–3	0–4	1–3	1–3	3–1	1–3	2–2	2–2	1–3	—	1–2	1–3	3–1	1–2	1–3	2–2	3–1	1–3	1–3
New Orleans	3–1	2–2	1–3	0–4	2–2	1–3	1–3	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	0–3	2–1	—	3–1	2–2	0–4	3–1	2–2	1–3	1–3	2–2
N.Y. Knicks	3–1	2–2	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	0–4	3–1	3–1	1–3	—	2–2	1–3	2–2	1–3	1–3	1–2	2–2
N.Y. Nets	1–3	1–3	2–2	1–2	1–3	1–3	1–3	1–3	2–2	0–4	0–4	0–4	1–3	2–2	2–2	—	1–3	2–2	0–3	1–3	1–3	1–3
Philadelphia	3–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	3–1	3–1	2–2	1–3	3–1	2–2	3–1	2–2	2–1	4–0	3–1	3–1	—	1–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	3–1
Phoenix	4–0	2–2	1–3	2–2	1–2	1–3	2–2	0–4	1–3	2–2	1–3	1–3	3–1	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–1	—	1–3	1–3	3–1	1–3
Portland	1–3	3–1	3–1	4–0	2–2	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–3	4–0	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	3–0	2–2	3–1	—	2–2	3–1	1–2
San Antonio	0–4	0–4	4–0	1–3	2–2	2–1	2–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–3	1–3	3–1	3–1	3–1	3–1	3–1	2–2	—	3–1	2–2
Seattle	2–1	2–2	1–3	2–2	1–3	0–4	3–1	3–1	1–3	2–2	3–1	1–3	3–1	3–1	2–1	3–1	2–2	1–3	1–3	1–3	—	3–1
Washington	3–1	4–0	4–0	2–1	3–1	2–2	3–1	1–3	1–3	4–0	2–2	0–4	3–1	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–3	3–1	2–1	2–2	1–3	—

Player statistics

Ragular season

Player	POS	GP	MP	REB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS	MPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Darnell Hillman	C	82	2,302	693	166	95	106	879	28.1	8.5	2.0	1.2	1.3	10.7
Don Buse	PG	81	2,947	270	685	281	16	646	36.4	3.3	8.5	3.5	.2	8.0
Wil Jones	PF	80	2,709	604	189	102	80	1,042	33.9	7.6	2.4	1.3	1.0	13.0
Dave Robisch	C	80	1,966	554	158	55	37	951	24.6	6.9	2.0	.7	.5	11.9
Billy Knight	SF	78	3,117	582	260	117	19	2,075	40.0	7.5	3.3	1.5	.2	26.6
Mike Flynn	SG	73	1,324	187	179	57	6	601	18.1	2.6	2.5	.8	.1	8.2
Steve Green	SF	70	918	177	46	46	12	450	13.1	2.5	.7	.7	.2	6.4
Mel Bennett	PF	67	911	237	70	37	33	314	13.6	3.5	1.0	.6	.5	4.7
Dan Roundfield	PF	61	1,645	518	69	61	131	848	27.0	8.5	1.1	1.0	2.1	13.9
Freddie Lewis	PG	32	552	47	56	18	2	224	17.3	1.5	1.8	.6	.1	7.0
John Williamson^†	SG	30	1,055	74	111	48	7	620	35.2	2.5	3.7	1.6	.2	20.7
Jerome Anderson	SG	27	164	12	10	6	2	66	6.1	.4	.4	.2	.1	2.4
Len Elmore	C	6	46	15	2	0	4	18	7.7	2.5	.3	.0	.7	3.0
Darrell Elston	SG	5	40	6	2	1	0	5	8.0	1.2	.4	.2	.0	1.0
Rudy Hackett^†	PF	5	38	10	3	0	1	12	7.6	2.0	.6	.0	.2	2.4
Clyde Mayes^†	PF	2	21	7	3	0	2	7	10.5	3.5	1.5	.0	1.0	3.5

^† Denotes player spent time with another team in the season. Stats reflect time with the Pacers only.

Awards and records

References

^ 1976–77 Indiana Pacers

[1] 1976–77 Indiana Pacers

[1]