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Philadelphia 76ers

The 1980 Philadelphia 76ers: Done In By A Magic Trick

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The Philadelphia 76ers were a franchise that was now established as a consistent contender. The Sixers were led by Julius (“Dr. J”) Erving, a spectacular small forward, and they reached the NBA Finals in 1977 and were in the mix each of the next two seasons. But Philadelphia never got over the hump—whether it was Bill Walton and the Portland Trail Blazers or the Washington Bullets, the Sixers didn’t reach the throne room. The 1980 Philadelphia 76ers got themselves close to doing that, but were dispatched with a dose of Magic.

NBA Win Props Review: Houston Buries Las Vegas

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The Houston Rockets are the #8 seed in the Western Conference as the NBA heads into the All-Star break this weekend. We don’t know if the Rockets can hold off any of Portland, Dallas or the Los Angeles Lakers for the final playoff berth. We assume the Rockets can’t beat either San Antonio or Oklahoma City in a first-round playoff series. But we do know this—they’ve buried Las Vegas. With 27 games still to play in the regular season, Houston has already beaten its Over/Under number on the preseason NBA win props.

In Case You Missed It…The Week That Was At TheSportsNotebook

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I hope your sports week was better than mine (well, unless you’re the fan of a rival team). The Celtics are melting down. The Bruins have the Senators in the rearview mirror. Wisconsin lost to Iowa again last night. If your sports residence is in Boston-Madison Corridor With Redskins Detour, life is rough. With Wisconsin at Ohio State on Sunday I don’t anticpate college hoops getting much better, although if the B’s can beat Ottawa tomorrow night, that’s what I want the most.

Now, to the point of this post, which is to link you to the eight feature articles that ran here at TheSportsNotebook from Monday thru Thursday.

Why The Philadelphia 76ers Are Struggling

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When the Philadelphia 76ers took the court back on February 8 they were sitting on an 18-7 record. The Sixers had a commanding lead in the Atlantic Division, where third in the Eastern Conference overall and there seemed little doubt they would fill one of the conference’s second-round playoff spots opposite Chicago or Miami. It’s been downhill since then, as the record is now 20-13. Thanks to even worse play of late by the Celtics, the lead in the Atlantic Division is still at four games, but New York is coming in the rearview mirror, the Sixers have slipped behind Orlando in the overall Eastern standings and their status as a clear top-four team is in doubt. TheSportsNotebook looks to examine what went wrong.