The Golden State Warriors defeated the Washington Bullets, four games to none, in a best-of-seven series to end the 1974-75 NBA season. The 1975 Finals marked the first time that two black head coaches met in a major professional sports championship, with Al Attles and K.C. Jones going head-to-head.

The Warriors' presence in the Finals was unexpected, to say the least. Entering the '74-75 season, Golden State was picked to finish fourth out of five teams in the Western Division. The team had lost two of its top four scorers in the offseason. All-Star center Nate Thurmond was traded to the Chicago Bulls, and second-leading scorer Cazzie Russell had defected to the Los Angeles Lakers. In fact, Golden State's Finals berth was such a surprise that their home arena, Oakland Coliseum, had already been booked for an ice show. The Warriors were forced to hold their home playoff games at the Cow Palace, an indoor livestock arena in Daly City, Calif. Golden State was led by team captain Rick Barry, who averaged 30.6 points per game during the regular season placing him second-best in the NBA behind Bob McAdoo. Barry was also the league's leader in steals averaging 2.9 per game. Golden State also boasted the '74-75 Rookie of the Year, forward Jamaal Wilkes. The 11th overall pick in the 1974 NBA draft out of UCLA, Wilkes made an immediate impact on the Warrior lineup. By season's end, Wilkes was the team's second-leading scorer averaging 14.2 points per game. Golden State led the NBA in scoring, averaging 108.5 points per game as a team. Despite the numbers, the Warriors were heavy underdogs entering the Finals.

The Bullets knocked out the 1974 champion Boston Celtics to earn their Finals bid. Washington held home court advantage in the championship series by virtue of finishing with the better regular-season record. In fact, the Bullets' regular-season mark of 60-22 was tied with the Celtics for the best in the league. Washington made its second Finals appearance of the decade in 1974, but its first under the Washington name. The team was swept by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's Milwaukee Bucks squad in 1971when the franchise was based out of Baltimore, Md. Wes Unseld was the lone holdover from that 1971 squad, and led the team in rebounds with 14.8 per game. Unseld was joined in the frontcourt by All-Star Elvin Hayes, who led the team with a 23-point scoring average and also pulled down 12.2 boards per game.

	Warriors	Bullets
Regular Season	48-34, 1st in Pacific Division	60-22, 1st in Central Division
Conf. Semifinals	Def. Seattle Supersonics, 4-2	Def. Buffalo Braves, 4-3
Conf. Finals	Def. Chicago Bulls, 4-3	Def. Boston Celtics, 4-2

Game 1 was played at Washington's Capital Centre where the Warriors had been winless since the 1970-71 season. In the first quarter, it appeared that Golden State was affected by their surroundings. The Warriors shot just 8-27 from the floor, committed seven turnovers and trailed 27-17 entering the second. By halftime, Washington had stretched its lead to 14 points. The Bullets held their largest lead of the game in the third at 16 points before the Golden State bench leaped into action. Rookie guard Phil Smith, who averaged just 13 minutes per game during the regular season, scored 20 points and took 8 rebounds in 31 minutes of play. The Warriors made up the entire deficit in the third quarter shooting 57 percent to Washington's 27 percent from the floor. The Bullets were outscored 32-18 in the third to place Golden State behind by one entering the fourth quarter. Team captain Rick Barry took charge and finished the game with 24 points. The Warriors shocked the world and edged out the Bullets, 101-95.

The Warriors fell behind by double digits early in game 2 trailing by 13 points late in the first half, but Golden State's Rick Barry went on his own personal 8-0 run just before halftime. Barry pulled his squad to within seven points at the break, 52-46. Barry's 23 points before the half accounted for half of his team's point total. Buoyed by Barry, Golden State caught up with the Bullets and eventually passed them. The Warriors held an 8-point lead with just over seven and a half minutes to go. With a lead that seemed safe, Golden State chose to milk the clock. Charles Johnson made the Warriors' last field goal of the game with 5:38 remaining in the game. The lack of scoring gave the Bullets the opening they needed to get back in the game. Mike Riordan put Washington ahead, 91-90 with a three-point play with 1:01 remaining. With just under 30 seconds left in the game, Barry was fouled by Riordan on a fast break, and had the opportunity for two foul shots. Barry, who finished the regular season as the NBA's free-throw percentage leader making 90.4 percent of his attempts, easily drained the two free throws to put Golden State up, 92-91. After Barry's free throws, the Bullets had a couple of chances at a game-winning shot. Riordan's shot with 23 seconds remaining went wide. Elvin Hayes grabbed the rebound, but his putback was off target as well, and just like that, Golden State escaped with the win. Barry finished the game with 36 points, and the Warriors were up 2-0 in a series nobody expected them to win.

After losing the first two games of the series, Washington was staring down nearly impossible odds. Only one team in NBA history had come back from a 0-2 Finals deficit to take the title, the 1969 Celtics. No team had ever done it from three games down. Golden State's Rick Barry posted a big first half for the second straight game scoring 25 points before the break. Barry's big start meant that Golden State avoided falling into a big hole as it had in games 1 and 2. The Warriors never trailed by more than two points in the game. Barry and Jamaal Wilkes led Golden State on a 15-4, third-quarter run that proved to put their squad up for good.

The Warriors shot out to a 14-point lead late in the fourth quarter. Golden State was up so convincingly that head coach Al Attles pulled all of his starters from the game with just under five minutes remaining. The Warriors out rebounded Washington 52-38, and Wilkes held the Bullets star, Elvin Hayes, to just 9 of 20 from the field. After recording a 109-101 win over Washington, Golden State was one victory away from claiming its first championship since 1956.

Washington's championship hopes looked bleak entering game 4. At that time, NBA teams facing a 0-3 deficit in a seven-game playoff series were 2-30 all-time. But if the Warriors were to close out Washington, they would have to do it without their head coach.

Al Attles was ejected early in the game after rushing into an altercation between Rick Barry and Washington's Mike Riordan. Riordan committed three fouls on Barry in the first 3:30 of the game, and after the third foul, Attles rushed out to Barry's defense. He was ejected after arguing with the referees, and watched the better part of the game on a television in the Golden State locker room. Assistant coach Joe Roberts coached the rest of the contest. Behind a big game from Wes Unseld, who would finish with 19 points and 16 rebounds, the Bullets climbed out to a 14-point lead in the second quarter. Washington led the game all the way until late in the fourth quarter.

Golden State faced an eight-point deficit with about five minutes remaining in the game. The Warriors went on a late-game run, led by guard Butch Beard. Beard spurred the Golden State comeback by putting together his own personal 7-0 run with a few minutes left. Beard finally put the Warriors up, 94-93, with a layup with 1:45 left on the clock. Beard added two more with key free throws down the stretch. Wes Unseld had a tip-in at the buzzer to cut the Golden State lead to 96-95, but that was it for Washington.

The Warriors had upset the Bullets to claim their third title in franchise history and the first since 1956, when they were the Philadelphia Warriors. The Warriors were only the third team in NBA history to record an NBA Finals sweep. The 1959 Boston Celtics and the 1971 Milwaukee Bucks were the only teams to do it previously.

Finals MVP Rick Barry finished with his lowest point total of the series with 20 points. The Warriors marked the NBA's fifth champion in five seasons. After the dominance of the 1960s' Boston Celtics dynasty, it seemed that the league had entered a new era of competition.

When the NBA ranked the 60 Greatest Playoff Moments in conjunction with the league's 60th anniversary, the Warriors sweep ranked No. 49 on the list.