# 1967–68 Denver Rockets season

The 1967–68 ABA season marked the inaugural season of both the American Basketball Association and the Denver Rockets. This was the first professional basketball played in Denver since the original Denver Nuggets disbanded in 1950. They finished 45–33, which was good enough to qualify for a playoff spot, as the third team out of four. They lost in the first round. This was their first of three consecutive playoff appearances, and first of ten appearances in the franchise's first twelve years.

## Season standings
### Eastern Division

| Team | Wins | Loses | Pct. |
| Pittsburgh Pipers | 54 | 24 | .692 |
| Minnesota Muskies | 50 | 28 | .641 |
| Indiana Pacers | 38 | 40 | .487 |
| Kentucky Colonels | 36 | 42 | .462 |
| New Jersey Americans | 36 | 42 | .462 |

### Western Division

| Team | Wins | Loses | Pct. |
| New Orleans Buccaneers | 48 | 30 | .615 |
| Dallas Chaparrals | 46 | 32 | .590 |
| Denver Rockets | 45 | 33 | .577 |
| Houston Mavericks | 29 | 49 | .372 |
| Anaheim Amigos | 25 | 53 | .321 |
| Oakland Oaks | 22 | 56 | .282 |

### Record vs. opponents

1967–68 ABA Records :
| Team | ANA | DAL | DEN | HOU | IND | KEN | MIN | NJA | NOB | OAK | PIT |
| Anaheim | — | 2–8 | 3–7 | 6–3 | 2–4 | 0–6 | 1–5 | 2–4 | 2–7 | 6–4 | 1–5 |
| Dallas | 8–2 | — | 4–5 | 8–2 | 3–3 | 5–1 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 4–6 | 7–2 | 2–4 |
| Denver | 7–3 | 5–4 | — | 6–3 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 5–1 | 5–5 | 7–3 | 2–4 |
| Houston | 3–6 | 2–8 | 3–6 | — | 3–3 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 0–10 | 7–3 | 2–4 |
| Indiana | 4–2 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 3–3 | — | 6–5 | 3–8 | 6–4 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 4–6 |
| Kentucky | 6–0 | 1–5 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 5–6 | — | 5–5 | 4–7 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 3–7 |
| Minnesota | 5–1 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 8–3 | 5–5 | — | 7–3 | 5–1 | 5–1 | 4–7 |
| New Jersey | 4–2 | 3–3 | 1–5 | 3–3 | 4–6 | 7–4 | 3–7 | — | 3–3 | 5–1 | 3–8 |
| New Orleans | 7–2 | 6–4 | 5–5 | 10–0 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 1–5 | 3–3 | — | 6–3 | 3–3 |
| Oakland | 4–6 | 2–7 | 3–7 | 3–7 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 1–5 | 1–5 | 3–6 | — | 0–6 |
| Pittsburgh | 5–1 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 6–4 | 7–3 | 7–4 | 8–3 | 3–3 | 6–0 | — |

## Playoffs

Western Division semifinals
| Game | Date | Location | Score | Record | Attendance |
| 1 | March 26 | New Orleans | 104-130 | 0-1 | 3,111 |
| 2 | March 27 | New Orleans | 93-105 | 0-2 | 3,622 |
| 3 | March 30 | Denver | 105-98 | 1-2 | 3,678 |
| 4 | March 31 | Denver | 108-100 | 2–2 | 3,485 |
| 5 | April 3 | New Orleans | 97-102 | 2-3 | 4500 |
Rockets lose 3-2

## Game log

* 1967-68 Denver Rockets Schedule and Results | Basketball-Reference.com

## Statistics

| Num | Name | University | Pos | GP | Reb | Asts | Pts | RPG | APG | PPG |
| 10 | Grant Simmons | Nebraska | G | 78 | 240 | 182 | 793 | 3.1 | 2.3 | 10.2 |
| 12 | Charles Gardner | Colorado | F | 42 | 136 | 13 | 197 | 3.2 | 0.3 | 4.7 |
| 14 | Jeff Congdon | Brigham Young | G | 41 | 34 | 59 | 159 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 3.9 |
| 14 | John Morrison | Canisius | G | 9 | 9 | 7 | 27 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 3.0 |
| 20 | Willis Thomas | Tennessee State | G | 24 | 58 | 25 | 294 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 12.3 |
| 22 | Julian Hammond | Tulsa | C/F | 74 | 327 | 62 | 591 | 4.4 | 0.8 | 8.0 |
| 24 | Tom Hoover | Villanova | C | 70 | 491 | 64 | 454 | 7.0 | 0.9 | 6.5 |
| 30 | R. B. Lynam | Oklahoma Baptist | G | 7 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 2.4 |
| 30 | Ron Horn | Indiana | F | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| 30 | Richard Moore | Hiram Scott | 18 | 19 | 8 | 69 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 3.8 | 6.4 |
| 32 | Larry Jones | Toledo | G | 76 | 599 | 270 | 1742 | 7.9 | 3.6 | 22.9 |
| 40 | Byron Beck | Denver | C/F | 71 | 559 | 38 | 669 | 7.9 | 0.5 | 9.4 |
| 42 | Lonnie Wright | Colorado State | G | 38 | 96 | 68 | 373 | 2.5 | 1.8 | 9.8 |
| 44 | Willie Murrell | Kansas State | F | 71 | 637 | 164 | 1165 | 9.0 | 0.9 | 16.4 |
| 50 | Tom Bowens | Grambling | F/C | 67 | 374 | 41 | 410 | 5.6 | 0.6 | 6.1 |
| 54 | Wayne Hightower | Kansas | F | 74 | 536 | 143 | 1282 | 7.2 | 1.9 | 17.3 |

## Awards and records

* ABA All-Star: Larry Jones
* ABA All-League Team