Hide Article Text (OCR)
Doc Erving Gives Nuggets Headache, Gives Nets Lead in ABA ChampionshipsBy JOHN MOSSMAN AP Sports Writer DENVER (AP)—“The Doctor was great,” said Denver Nugget Coach Larry Brown, licking his wounds after Julius “Dr. J.” Erving almost single-handedly whipped his club.“I’ve never seen him play better, said Nugget forward Bobby Jones, a bit baffled at the ineffectiveness of his defensive efforts against Erving.“The Doc is the greatest player in the world,” said New York Nets Coach Kevin Loughery, whose team rallied behind Erving to take a 1-0 edge in the best-of-seven American Basketball Association championship series.The 6-foot-7 Erving scored 45 points, many of them on the incredible variety of shots that only he can make. But the most important points came on a 20-foot baseline jumper at the buzzer that gave the Nets a 120-118 triumph Saturday night before a league-record crowd of 19,034 The Nuggets’ task in Game Two, scheduled here Tuesday night, is obvious: stop Erving.“We must do a better job on Julius,” said Brown. To do so, Denver has to keep the men who guard Erving out of foul trouble. Jones had six fouls Saturday night, reserve forwardGus Gerard five and center Dan Issel, who sometimes left his man to help out, also had five.In addition, the Nuggets need to sustain their fast-break offense by clearing the defensive boards better. In the fourth period of Saturday night's game, the Nets stayed in control mainly by getting second and third shots with regularity. In a span of four minutes of the final quarter, New York scored six straight baskets on rebounded shots, four by Erving.Denver had rallied from deficits of at least nine points in the first three quarters to make a game of it toward the end. The Nuggets pulled within one point on eight occasions in the last period, but couldn't seem to get the big rebound when they needed it.Erving. sensing that Denver was about to explode with one of its typical second-half comebacks, took total command of the Nets' offense In the final 7:43, he scored 18 of New York’s 24 points.Denver finally managed to pull into a tie at 118-118 when Marvin Webster stuffed home a missed shot with four seconds remaining.With time enough for one shot, the Nets went to Erving on the inbounds pass “We wanted to get the ball to the baseline so I could drive to the hoop,’’ said Erving “\ took two dribbles but Jones cut me off, and I was forced to take a shot I didn’t really want to. I would rather have challenged inside, and maybe drawn a foul. But I just let it fly.His performance overshadowed those of the Nuggets’ two fine rookies, David Thompson and Webster. Thompson scored 30 points and the 7-1 Webster, improving with every playoff game, pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds and had 14 points in a substitute roleNew York forward Rich Jones, who scored 18 points, suffered a severe sprain to his left wrist and is questionable for Tuesday night’s game.
Newspaper Details
Daily Sitka Sentinel
Sitka, Alaska, US
Mon, May 03, 1976
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Robert G.
USA 27 Mar 2025
Other Publications Near Sitka, Alaska
Baranof Banner
Sitka Thlinget
Daily Sitka Sentinel
