In addition, an odd scheduling format had to be used because Golden State could not secure the Cow Palace for Memorial Day Weekend (May 24–26).
In the years since, they moved to Oakland, briefly lost Rick Barry to the American Basketball Association, and named Warriors great Al Attles as head coach.
Before the start of the 1974–75 season they traded future Hall of Famer Nate Thurmond to the Chicago Bulls for young center Clifford Ray.
With Barry as the offensive leader, and with Attles using a team approach to coaching, the Warriors managed to finish the season atop the Western Conference with 48 wins.
The Warriors began to storm back, with Phil Smith coming off the bench to score 20 points in 31 minutes of playing time, as Golden State took the first game, 101–95.
[3] Back at home, the Bullets seemed to be on their way to staving off an unexpected sweep by the underdog Warriors, leading by 14 points early on.
The Bullets controlled the game and led most of the way, leading by as many as eight in the fourth quarter at 90–82 after a Riordan drive and layup where he injured his ankle.
Jones pulled Riordan and sent in little-used Dick Gibbs, with Nick Weatherspoon mired in a shooting slump.
After a Jamaal Wilkes basket, Kevin Porter missed a pair of free throws and Butch Beard hit a jumper to cut the Bullet lead to four at 92–88.
The Warriors turned the ball over on a 24-second violation with 33 seconds left, but the Bullets gave it back to them after a timeout when Unseld fumbled an inbounds pass into the backcourt.
CBS broadcast the 1975 NBA Finals in the United States, with Brent Musburger on play-by-play and Oscar Robertson on color commentary.