Belt game 2,634 · December 8, 1976
Phoenix Suns take the belt
Phoenix Suns beat Houston Rockets 116–95 at home to start reign 1,164 of the NBA belt, the 19th for the franchise.
Houston Rockets had held it since December 4, 1976, with 0 defenses over 4 days.
Phoenix Suns held it for 3 days and 1 defense, then lost it to New York Knicks on December 11, 1976.
1,164Reign number
19Team's reign
1Defenses
3Days held
Box score
Phoenix Suns
| Player | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | FG | 3P | FT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Westphal | 32 | 23 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 10-16 | — | 3-5 |
| Ricky Sobers | 33 | 19 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7-14 | — | 5-7 |
| Curtis Perry | 34 | 17 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6-10 | — | 5-5 |
| Ron Lee | 11 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6-6 | — | 1-1 |
| Alvan Adams | 26 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4-9 | — | 3-3 |
| Garfield Heard | 36 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4-9 | — | 1-2 |
| Dennis Awtrey | 19 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2-6 | — | 3-3 |
| Dick Van Arsdale | 17 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2-3 | — | 2-2 |
| Tom Van Arsdale | 23 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2-5 | — | 2-3 |
| Dale Schlueter | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0 | — | 4-4 |
| Butch Feher | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0 | — | 1-3 |
| Ira Terrell | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-2 | — | 0-0 |
Houston Rockets
| Player | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | FG | 3P | FT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calvin Murphy | 27 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10-12 | — | 0-1 |
| Rudy Tomjanovich | 37 | 18 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 9-16 | — | 0-1 |
| Tom Owens | 12 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5-9 | — | 3-6 |
| John Johnson | 28 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5-13 | — | 0-0 |
| Mike Newlin | 23 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3-7 | — | 1-1 |
| Moses Malone | 29 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2-6 | — | 3-6 |
| Ed Ratleff | 20 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1-6 | — | 4-4 |
| Rudy White | 18 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3-4 | — | 0-0 |
| John Lucas | 27 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0-6 | — | 4-4 |
| Kevin Kunnert | 13 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2-2 | — | 0-0 |
| Dwight Jones | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-1 | — | 0-0 |
Player box scores: Historical NBA Data and Player Box Scores by Eoin Moore (CC0).