well as playing a number of games in Utica, New York, during the same period). These "neutral site" games were common during this period of the NBA (for instance, Wilt Chamberlain's historic 100 point performance occurred in Hershey, Pennsylvania, then a semi-regular site for NBA games) but they were not particularly well attended and definitely not popular with the players and coaches as they added more travel to the schedule. The Syracuse Nationals became the Philadelphia 76ers after the 1962–63 season ended (when the Philadelphia Warriors moved to San Francisco) and regular season NBA games ended in Rochester as well. During the 1970–71 season the expansion Buffalo Braves of the NBA played two regular season games in Rochester (as well as two in Syracuse) in an effort to build Western New York interest in the nascent franchise. The Braves were not a very good team and the games were not as successful at the gate as the team hoped and the Braves did not return the next season. The Braves were bucking the south and west trend of NBA franchise movement and the hope was their large market, large arena and fan interest in nearby NBA abandoned cities (they played fifteen games in Toronto during the 1973–74 and 1974-75 season in an effort to regionalize into Canada) would be enough to make the team successful. The Braves played their last game in Buffalo as the Braves in April 1978 and the club moved to Southern California to become the San Diego (and later, Los Angeles) Clippers. Not many fans frequently made the 70-mile trip from Rochester to Buffalo to see the Braves play as, for the most part, they were not a competitive team. The move of the Braves out of Buffalo coincided with rise of another professional, albeit minor league team in Rochester known as the Zeniths. History The Rochester Zeniths were organized in the fall of 1977 to play professional basketball in the newly formed All-American Basketball Alliance by Tom Ficara, originator of the league. They were owned by Dick Hill who owned Hill TV, a Rochester electronics store that sold Zenith brand televisions, hence the nickname Zeniths Hill also initially owned the Rochester Zeniths professional softball team that played in two different men's professional softball leagues in the Rochester area starting in 1978. The softball team changed its name in 1980 to the Rochester Express after Hill