in January. Guard Bob Weiss came back to the franchise as an assistant coach with the San Diego Clippers from 1978–80 and as a coach for the Los Angeles Clippers from 1993-94. Regular season Overview An early eleven-game winning streak helped the Braves achieve a 16–4 record to start the season and a later seven-game streak took them to 31–16. Buffalo supplanted the New York Knicks as Boston's closest competitor in the Atlantic foursome with 49 wins and 33 losses. Buffalo boasted high-scoring super star Bob McAdoo, who posted a 34.5 scoring average to lead the NBA, while making more field goals than any other player. He also led in minutes played, while also ranking among the best rebounders and shot blockers in the league. McAdoo also earned 798 free throw tries, another league high, converting 81% of his attempts. The Braves lost reigning NBA Rookie of the Year Ernie DiGregorio to a knee injury that limited him to 31 games, watched former Laker Jim McMillian battle illness that caused him to miss 20 games, and also lost Gar Heard for 15 games, which dropped the team from the elite and put more of the load on their star. The Braves attendance increased by 40,000 to 467,267 in their 41 home games, but the team fell to 5th of 18 teams. The team defense improved sufficiently to create an average 2.2-point scoring margin after a slight average deficit the year before. McMillian ranked tenth in the league in field goal percentage. Heard ranked 9th in blocks per game (1.8). Jack Marin, who played in 81 games, ranked seventh in free throw percentage (86.9%). Randy Smith, who played in all 82 regular-season games for the third consecutive season, finished fourth in assists per game (6.5). McAdoo, who also played all 82 games, led the NBA in minutes played, field goals, rebounds (ranked fourth per game), points, and points per game. Meanwhile, he ranked sixth in blocks per game, second in total free throws, and fifth in field goal percentage. This performance earned him the league MVP and first team All-NBA honors. October–November As he had the season before, DiGregorio had a tremendous opening night with 33 points. The Braves defeated the defending champion Boston Celtics 126–119, giving them their first win in nine games against Boston as a visitor. The Celtics had eliminated the Braves from the 1975 NBA Playoffs. DiGregorio