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1982 Philadelphia 76ers

The 1982 NBA Playoffs: The Sixers Avert Disaster & Magic Comes Back

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The Philadelphia 76ers fans must have felt like they were re-living a nightmare in the 1982 NBA playoffs. Because they were. Just like in 1981, they and the Boston Celtics were far and away the best teams in the East and were on a collision course to play in the Eastern Conference Finals.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 

Larry Bird led the way for Boston, with Kevin McHale and Robert Parish in place down low, and Tiny Archibald running the offense. For Philadelphia, Julius Erving averaged 24 ppg, Andrew Toney was lights-out from the perimeter, Mo Cheeks ran the show, while Darryl Dawkins and Caldwell Jones hit the boards and each team rolled into the conference finals.

Just like in 1981, the Sixers won three of the first four games, with Toney scoring 30-plus points twice. Bird had a 20 points/20 rebounds night to key a Boston win in Game 5, but Philly still had Game 6 at home. Toney shot 1-for-11, the Celtics won and for the second straight year, the 76ers were on the brink of blowing a 3-1 series lead.

This year would be different though—Toney had 34 points in Game 7, Dr. J had 29 and Philadelphia used a 31-22 third quarter to pull away and win 120-106, saving themselves some monumental embarrassment and according to reliable reports, saving the job of head coach Billy Cunningham. The 76ers also won some respect from an unlikely source—Celtics fans congratulated them in the closing moments of Game 7 with a “Beat LA!” good-luck chant.

Speaking of LA, the Magic was back, quite literally for the Los Angeles Lakers, and it’s where the similarities to the previous year ended.  Unlike ’81, Sixers-Celtics wasn’t the de facto championship series, because Magic Johnson was healthy and happy and the Los Angeles Lakers rolled to a 57-win regular season after making a coaching change to assistant Pat Riley after twelve games.

Magic averaged 19 points/10 rebounds/10 assists, Norm Nixon averaged 18 ppg as his running mate, while Jamaal Wilkes and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were both 20-plus point scorers on the front line. Los Angeles swept both the Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs to reach the NBA Finals.

Even though Philly had homecourt, the Lakers came in, and behind 24 points/10 rebounds from Wilkes, took Game 1. And even with Toney going crazy, Los Angeles defended their home court in Games 3 & 4 behind strong first quarters and took a 3-1 series lead.

After a Sixers’ rout in Game 5, the series came back west. Magic had a Lucky 13 night—13 points/13 rebounds/13 assists. With his team dominating the glass, the Lakers won the title and Magic got his second Finals MVP in three years. Read a complete account of the 1982 NBA Finals. 

1982 NBA Finals: The Magic Is Back

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The 1982 Los Angeles Lakers got off to a rocky start. They were coming off a disappointing season in 1981 and an early first-round playoff exit, and before we got out of December in this season, tensions between Magic Johnson and head coach Paul Westhead had reached the point that Westhead was fired. Considered a spoiled coach-killer at the start of the year, Magic had a chance for redemption in the 1982 NBA Finals.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 

Pat Riley was elevated from assistant to head coach and begin one of the great careers in NBA history. It didn’t hurt that, in addition to Magic and his 19 points/10 rebounds/10 assists per game average, Riley also had Kareem Abdul Jabbar in the low post. Kareem was 34-years-old, but still good for a 24/9 average.

Jamaal Wilkes scored 21 a night at the small forward spot, Norm Nixon was a scorer and distributor opposite Magic in the backcourt, Michael Cooper could defend anyone on the perimeter and  Mitch Kupchak hit the boards with abandon. The Lakers won 57 games in the regular season and then went 8-0 to sweep through a weakened Western Conference (prior to 1984 the top two seeds in each conference got first-round byes).

The Philadelphia 76ers had gotten a big character win in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Boston Garden, but they still needed to complete the journey to a title. Philly had lost to Portland in the 1977 NBA Finals and then to these Lakers—basically the same cast, save for Riley at head coach—two years earlier.

Julius Erving was the leader of the Sixers, with 24 points/7 rebounds per game. Andrew Toney was a lights-out perimeter shooter averaging 17 ppg. To show how different basketball was in 1982, Toney averaged less than one three-point shot per game. In today’s trey-heavy offenses, Toney would have had a field day.

Dr. J and Toney were the cornerstones and got help from veteran playmaker Maurice Cheeks, defensive specialist Bobby Jones and the talented, albeit inconsistent power forward Darryl Dawkins. Lionel Hollins, currently the head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies, was a contributor off the bench with 11 ppg.

Philadelphia had gone 58-24 and held homecourt advantage, but Los Angeles immediately took it away. The Lakers trailed Game 1 by eleven at the half, but used a balanced offense to churn out a 124-117 win. Nixon and Wilkes each knocked down 24, Jabbar had 23 and the 6’8” Johnson used his size advantage, and the lack of a solid 76er center, to make hay on the boards. Magic had 14 rebounds in the Game 1 win.

The suddenly desperate Sixers rebounded like a team possessed in Game 2, getting a 52-39 advantage, Erving came up with 14 boards and veteran backup center Caldwell Jones had 11, and Philadelphia won 110-94 to keep the Finals from getting away too quickly.

Now it was time to go west, and the Lakers came firing out of the gate in both games, and they were aggressive on the glass. Los Angeles won the first quarter of Game 3 by a 32-20 count and Nixon had a big game, hitting 12/20 from the floor for 29 points. Toney’s 36 couldn’t rescue Philadelphia in a 129-108 final. Game 4 was closer, but this time the first quarter went 29-18 for the Lakers and Magic, Kareem and Wilkes all scored 20-plus. A 111-101 win put Los Angeles on the brink of a title.

Prior to 1984, the Finals were 2-2-1-1-1 like the rest of the playoffs, so the 76ers could return home for the must-win Game 5. Even though the 3-1 series deficit was imposing they only needed to find a way to win road game and defend their home floor. They took care of the latter part with a dominant second half in Game 5. A game that was tied 54-54 at half, turned into a 135-102 rout, with the bulk of that margin built in the fourth quarter. Toney scored 31 points.

Erving had been consistent throughout the Finals, going over 20 points each night and he and Toney played with desperation back in Los Angeles for Game 6. They combined for 59 points. But Los Angeles had too much depth. Wilkes, the Lakers leading scorer in the Finals, scored 27. Magic had a Lucky 13 night—13 on points, rebounds and assists and Los Angeles dominated the glass to the tune of 49-35. The Lakers won 114-104 and secured the championship.

Los Angeles had its second title in three years, both at Philadelphia’s expense. The Sixers would go back to the drawing board and look for the kind of interior presence that could help them take the final step. For now, Magic was back in the nation’s good graces. He was a deserved Finals MVP, averaging a 16/10/9 throughout the series.