1967–68 Pittsburgh Pipers season

The 1967–68 Pittsburgh Pipers season was the 1st season of the ABA. The Pipers finished first in the Eastern Division and won their first and only ABA title.[1]

1967–68 Pittsburgh Pipers season
Division champions
Head coachVince Cazzetta
ArenaPittsburgh Civic Arena
Results
Record54–24 (.692)
PlaceDivision: 1st
Playoff finishWon ABA Championship

In the Eastern Division semifinals, the Pipers swept the Indiana Pacers in three games. In the Eastern Division Finals, the Pipers eliminated the Minnesota Muskies, in five games. The Western Division champion New Orleans Buccaneers appeared in the ABA Championships for the first time and were defeated by the Pipers in seven games. Sadly, the Pipers would soon move to Minnesota for the next season, only to return a year later. Plaguing injuries nagged the team for the rest of their brief tenure in Pittsburgh, as they would disband in 1972, only four years after winning the title. The Pipers hold a legacy as the first ABA champion along with Pittsburgh's only professional basketball champion.

Roster

Bold indicates player was on final roster when team won championship.

Season standings
1969–70 ABA Eastern Standings[2]
Western DivisionWLPCT.GB
Pittsburgh Pipers5424.692–
Minnesota Muskies4539.6414
Indiana Pacers3840.48716
Kentucky Colonels3646.46218
New Jersey Americans3646.46218

Record vs. opponents
1967-68 ABA Records
Team ANA DAL DEN HOU IND KEN MIN NJA NOB OAK PIT
Anaheim —2–83–76–32–40–61–52–42–76–41–5
Dallas 8–2—4–58–23–35–12–43–34–67–22–4
Denver 7–35–4—6–34–22–42–45–15–57–32–4
Houston 3–62–83–6—3–33–33–33–30–107–32–4
Indiana 4–23–32–43–3—6–53–86–43–34–24–6
Kentucky 6–01–54–23–35–6—5–54–72–43–33–7
Minnesota 5–14–24–23–38–35–5—7–35–15–14–7
New Jersey 4–23–31–53–34–67–43–7—3–35–13–8
New Orleans 7–26–45–510–03–34–21–53–3—6–33–3
Oakland 4–62–73–73–72–43–31–51–53–6—0–6
Pittsburgh 5–14–24–24–26–47–37–48–33–36–0—

Playoffs

Eastern Division Semifinals[3]

GameDateLocationScoreRecordAttendance
1March 25Pittsburgh146–1271–02,189
2March 26Pittsburgh121–1082–03,684
3March 27Indiana133–1143–03,141

Pipers win series, 3–0

Division Finals[3]

GameDateLocationScoreRecordAttendance
1April 4Pittsburgh125–1171–03,159
2April 6Pittsburgh123–1371–12,123
3April 10Minnesota107–992–18,357
4April 13Minnesota117–1083–13,787
5April 14Pittsburgh114–1054–13,350

Pipers win series, 4–1

ABA Finals[3]

GameDateLocationScoreRecordAttendance
1April 18Pittsburgh120–1121–02,665
2April 20Pittsburgh100–1091–13,877
3April 24New Orleans101–1091–26,300
4April 25New Orleans106–105 (OT)2–27,000
5April 27Pittsburgh108–1112–33,347
6May 1New Orleans118–1123–37,200
7May 4Pittsburgh122–1134–311,457

Pipers win series, 4–3

In six out of the 15 playoff games he played, Hawkins was the lead scorer. As such, he was named Playoffs MVP. Hawkins would be elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992. As it turned out, this would be his only championship.

Awards, records, and honors

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-04-28. Retrieved 2013-01-02.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "1967-68 ABA Season Summary". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
  3. "1967-68 ABA Regular Season Standings". Remembertheaba.com. Archived from the original on 2010-11-29. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
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