Wednesday marks the 50th anniversary of a game that symbolized a breakout season for the Cleveland Cavaliers, the culmination of a playoff series which came to be known as the "Miracle of Richfield."
On this day, the Cavs beat the Washington Bullets in Game 7 of their NBA playoffs series. Though it was just the conference semifinal, and the team didn't win a championship or even make it to the finals, it launched the fervent support of fans that endures to this day.
These days, the Cavs are the pride and joy of Northeast Ohio, along with the Browns and the Guardians. But back in the mid-1970s, with the Cavs just five years into their existence, the team's support was considerably less stout. Having endured losing season after losing season in a shabby arena, Cleveland fans were finally given a reason to believe by a scrappy group of players who made a miracle happen on a new home floor.
With the Cavs currently in the midst of a first round NBA playoff series against the Toronto Raptors, plenty of Northeast Ohio residents still fondly remember that team from 50 years ago, and one player from that Bullets team who'll never forget that Game 7.
Showdown
Fifty years ago, Cleveland had home court advantage in that opening series against Washington after winning its division, but the Cavs were the clear underdogs in a matchup against a stacked Bullets team.
The Bullets had three players in their primes who would wind up in the NBA Hall of Fame. Dave Bing at point guard, Elvin Hayes, known as "the Big E," at power forward, a perennial all-star, and the team's defensive presence in the center, the late Wes Unseld.
Unseld, at 6'7" was one of the shortest centers to ever play the game, yet showed such unparalleled hustle and intelligence, that he was awarded Most Valuable Player of the league in his rookie season.
The starting five was rounded out by two standouts, shooting guard Phil Chenier and burly power forward Truck Robinson.
In the 1975-76 season, the Bullets achieved a feat that hasn't been replicated: all five of their starters received votes for Most Valuable Player at the end of the season. Two of their stars, Bing and Hayes, also were named to the All-Star team that season.
The mismatch came into sharp contrast with the Cavs that season who had no all-stars and just one player receiving MVP consideration, center Jim Chones.
Chenier spent the majority of his playing career with the Bullets (now the Washington Wizards), later becoming the team’s color commentator for 30 years. He still lives in the Washington, D.C. area and remembers the series well.
According to Chenier, the Bullets were supremely confident in their chances but weren’t looking past a Cavs team that had given them fits during the regular season.
“I don't think we were taking anything for granted, but the year before, when we went to the (NBA) finals, we had to beat Boston, and they had the home court advantage," Chenier said. "We were anticipating going back to the finals and finishing the job that we did not finish in '75."
In 1976, the Cavs and Bullets finished the regular season with similar records, with Cleveland just one game ahead of Washington in the standings. That gave the Cavs the home court advantage.
Fandom ignited
For many people old enough to remember the season, it stands out as the start of Northeast Ohio's love affair with the Cavs. A recent post on a Cleveland nostalgia Facebook group seeking memories from local fans unleashed a flood of comments from fans who still remember the 1976 playoffs as the start of something great.
Jim Blum, a former WKSU announcer, watched Game 2 of the series from the stands. He also listened to legendary Cavs play-by-play broadcaster Joe Tait call the rest of the games on the radio. Blum has been a Cavs fan since their inception and has vivid memories of the series against the Bullets.
“All the games were close, and almost all of them won at the end, and the crowd just could not stay in their seats," Blum said. "And they cheered anything, the littlest thing, they would just go ballistic — especially when you consider those first four years in the old Cleveland arena.”
In the spring of 1976, the Cavs were finishing just their second season in the Richfield Coliseum. The team had played its first four seasons at the Cleveland Arena.
The Coliseum was a big step up.
Chenier still remembers the Cleveland Arena’s facilities being so bad that when the Bullets would come to town, they wouldn’t bother with the showers in the locker room.
“It was so bad," Chenier said. "The drains (were) bad, so if you went in there, the water was up above your ankles and it only had like three or four showers."
Joe Applebaum was a teenager during the Cavs early years. He remembers the Cleveland Arena days when the crowds were so sparse, you could interact with people on the bench, like Cavs coach Bill Fitch.
“I kept yelling — I was probably 14, maybe 13 — to put in Dwight Davis, who was our rookie,” Applebaum said, “and (Fitch) finally turned around and waved for me to sit down and he said, ‘Soon, soon!’”
Tony Zucker, who now lives in California's Bay Area, said he's loved the Cavs since their start in 1970. He remembers how the series against Washington cemented his lifelong love of Cleveland basketball. He also remembers the less-than hit song that was supposed to be the soundtrack of the season.
Nearly a decade before the Chicago Bears’ “Super Bowl Shuffle” became a hit, Northeast Ohio radio DJ Larry Morrow penned “Come on Cavs” at the behest of then-Cavs owner, Nick Mileti. Zucker, who knew Morrow personally, remembers the song fondly.
“He wrote this, like, in just a couple days," Zucker said. "I think it's actually a really cool song and it's got a really good beat to it."
The song didn’t catch fire like the “Super Bowl Shuffle," but it still brings great memories to fans who were there in the 1970s. Memories like that have kept Zucker involved in Cavs fandom. He even had a rare opportunity in 2016 to share a moment with his sons similar to the one he experienced in 1976, when the Cavs had a Game 7 victory, winning the NBA Finals in Oakland.
“I took my sons to that game in June of 2016 because it was on Father's Day, and I have three boys and they moved out here with me," Zucker said. "So, when we won Game 6, I was like, there's no way we can't not go to Game 7 in Oakland."
Zucker believes his sons will cherish the memories in the same way he has with his own memories from 1976.
David and Goliath
Blum remembers the long odds the Cavs faced as being part of the magic of the 1976 series win. Few outside Cleveland saw the Cavs as favorites.
The two teams had played close games during that season, and despite the Bullets’ hall of fame roster, the Cavs had a deep lineup of their own: the three Jims; Chones, Brewer and Cleamons, wing players Dick Snyder and Bingo Smith, and accomplished players like Austin Carr, Campy Russell, and the team's lone hall of famer, Nate Thurmond, who was well-past his best years and nearing retirement.
“We were not favored," Blum said. "We thought we had a shot because we had home court ... we just all knew that we were going to yell more than we ever did and that we were going to believe it, whether we believed it or not.”
Many fans sharing their memories on Facebook noted the sheer energy and noise that permeated Richfield Coliseum during that series. Phil Chenier also remembers the sound of the crowd that shook the building.
“Throughout the whole series, that arena was just loud, extremely loud," Chenier said. "I think it inspired our club, our fans, when we got back to our place, to also step up their game. So, it became a battle. Not just to the teams, but a battle of the fans, too."
An immortal moment
With 24 seconds left in the game, Chenier hit a dramatic jump shot to tie the game at 85.
With just four seconds left, Cavs guard Dick Snyder hit a running layup off the backboard to give the Cavs a two-point lead.
Chenier had spent most of the fourth quarter on the bench with five fouls. He checked back in for the final minutes.
“We ran a play that was supposed to be for Elvin [Hayes], and some kind of way, the play got discombobulated, the ball rolls, the ball goes out to the corner," Chenier said. "And I ran it down and shot up a desperate shot.
“I just raised up and shot from there and missed it.”
The rest is Cavaliers history. Chenier remembers the bitter disappointment of falling short in a year he thought his Bullets would go all the way. They did become NBA champions in 1978.
The Cavs went on to lose in the conference finals to another team stacked with hall of famers, the Boston Celtics, and wouldn’t return to the conference finals until 1992.
But the fervor of those fans converted in 1976, never dissipated.
“And you know how Cleveland fans are, we're suckers, right? We want it whether we're going to get it or not,” Blum said.
Whether the Cavs advance in the playoffs or not in 2026, the vivid memories of the fans, 50 years and counting, have laid a foundation for support that lives with every parent taking their kids to the arena to support the home team.
There's always hope that another miracle will happen.
