1983 NBA Finals
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| Dates: | May 22 - May 31 | |||||||||
| MVP: | Moses Malone (Philadelphia 76ers) |
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| Television: | CBS (U.S.) | |||||||||
| Announcers: | Dick Stockton and Bill Russell | |||||||||
| Announcers: | Chick Hearn (Lakers) | |||||||||
| Referees: | ||||||||||
| Game 1: Earl Strom and Ed T. Rush | ||||||||||
| Game 2: Darrell Garretson and John Vanak | ||||||||||
| Game 3: Jake O'Donnell and Ed T. Rush | ||||||||||
| Game 4: Hugh Evans and Earl Strom | ||||||||||
| Hall of Famers: | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1995) Julius Erving (1993) Magic Johnson (2002) Moses Malone (2001) Bob McAdoo (2000) James Worthy (2003; did not play) Coaches: Billy Cunningham (1986, player) Pat Riley (2008) Broadcasters: Chick Hearn Officials: Earl Strom |
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| Eastern Finals: | 76ers defeat Bucks, 4-1 | |||||||||
| Western Finals: | Lakers defeat Spurs, 4-2 | |||||||||
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The 1983 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1982–83 NBA season.
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[edit] Overview
The final piece of the Philadelphia 76ers' championship puzzle was completed before the 1982-83 season when they acquired center Moses Malone from the Houston Rockets. They went on to capture their historic second NBA championship as they won 65 games, and stormed through the playoffs, first sweeping the New York Knicks, and then beating the Milwaukee Bucks in five games. They finally finished it off with a four game sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers, who had defeated them the season before.
Said head coach Billy Cunningham, "The difference from last year was Moses." Malone was named MVP of the 1983 Finals, as well as league MVP for the third time in his career. The 76ers completed one of the most dominating playoff runs in league history with a 12-1 mark after league and NBA Finals MVP Moses promised "Fo', fo', fo" (as in "four, four, four" - four wins to sweep round 1, four wins to sweep round 2, etc.), but it actually wound up as "Fo', fi', fo." (four, five, four). The 76ers were also led by Julius Erving, Maurice Cheeks, Andrew Toney, and Bobby Jones.
With 59 seconds to go in Game 4, it was Erving who made a three-point play to hold the lead for good, crushing the Lakers in a four game sweep and ending the last NBA Finals to end before June.
| Los Angeles Lakers (Western Conference Champion) | Philadelphia 76ers (Eastern Conference Champion) | ||
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| 58–24 (.707) 1st Pacific, 1st West, 2nd overall |
Regular season | 65–17 (.793) 1st Atlantic, 1st East, 1st overall |
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| Earned first-round bye | First Round | Earned first-round bye | |
| Defeated the (5) Portland Trail Blazers, 4–1 | Conference Semifinals | Defeated the (5) New York Knicks, 4–0 | |
| Defeated the (2) San Antonio Spurs, 4–2 | Conference Finals | Defeated the (2) Milwaukee Bucks, 4–1 | |
[edit] Regular season series
The Philadelphia 76ers won both games in the regular season series:
| December 5, 1982 | Philadelphia 76ers 114, Los Angeles Lakers 104 | The Forum, Los Angeles, California | ||||
| January 5, 1983 | Los Angeles Lakers 120, Philadelphia 76ers 122 (OT) | The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | ||||
[edit] Series summary
| Game | Date | Home Team | Result | Road Team |
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| Game 1 | Sunday, May 22 | Philadelphia 76ers | 113-107 (1-0) | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Game 2 | Thursday, May 26 | Philadelphia 76ers | 103-93 (2-0) | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Game 3 | Sunday, May 29 | Los Angeles Lakers | 94-111 (0-3) | Philadelphia 76ers |
| Game 4 | Tuesday, May 31 | Los Angeles Lakers | 108-115 (0-4) | Philadelphia 76ers |
[edit] Game 1
| May 22 | Los Angeles Lakers 107, Philadelphia 76ers 113 | The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Attendance: 18,482 Referees:
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CBS | ||||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–30, 37–24, 26–31, 24–28 | |||||||
| Pts: Norm Nixon 26 Rebs: Mark Landsberger 10 Asts: Magic Johnson 11 |
Pts: Moses Malone 27 Rebs: Moses Malone 18 Asts: Julius Erving 9 |
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| Philadelphia leads the series, 1–0 | |||||||
[edit] Game 2
| May 26 | Los Angeles Lakers 93, Philadelphia 76ers 103 | The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Attendance: 18,482 Referees:
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CBS | ||||
| Scoring by quarter: 29–26, 26–25, 20–28, 18–24 | |||||||
| Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 23 Rebs: Magic Johnson 8 Asts: Magic Johnson 13 |
Pts: Moses Malone 24 Rebs: Moses Malone 12 Asts: Maurice Cheeks 8 |
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| Philadelphia leads the series, 2–0 | |||||||
[edit] Game 3
| May 29 | Philadelphia 76ers 111, Los Angeles Lakers 94 | The Forum, Inglewood, California Attendance: 17,505 Referees:
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CBS | ||||
| Scoring by quarter: 21–32, 28–20, 23–20, 39–22 | |||||||
| Pts: Moses Malone 28 Rebs: Moses Malone 19 Asts: Moses Malone 6 |
Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 23 Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 15 Asts: Magic Johnson 13 |
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| Philadelphia leads the series, 3–0 | |||||||
[edit] Game 4
| May 31 | Philadelphia 76ers 115, Los Angeles Lakers 108 | The Forum, Inglewood, California Attendance: 17,505 Referees:
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CBS | ||||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–26, 27–39, 31–28, 33–15 | |||||||
| Pts: Moses Malone 24 Rebs: Moses Malone 23 Asts: Andrew Toney 9 |
Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 28 Rebs: Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson, Landsberger, McGee 7 each Asts: Magic Johnson 15 |
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| Philadelphia wins the series, 4–0 | |||||||
[edit] "That Championship Feeling"
Following the 1983 NBA Finals, a video documentary called "That Championship Feeling" recaps the NBA Playoff action that year. Dick Stockton, who called the Finals for CBS with Bill Russell, narrated the video, and Irene Cara's 1983 hit single "Flashdance... What a Feeling" is the official theme song for the video documentary. For the first time, NBA Entertainment used videotape instead of film for all the on-court and off-court footage.
[edit] Aftermath
The Sixers would finish the 1983–84 season with 52 wins; however they fell to the young New Jersey Nets in five games of the first round, in which the road team won every game. The Sixers would not make it back to the finals again until 2001, also against the Lakers, but this time they lost in five games to the then-defending NBA champions. (The city of Philadelphia would not see another championship until the Phillies won the 2008 World Series 25 years after the 1983 Finals.[1])
The Lakers would return to the Finals again in 1984, but were defeated for the second straight year, this time by their arch-rivals, the Boston Celtics in seven games. They would, however, defeat the Celtics in 1985 in six games, and win two more titles in 1987 and 1988.
The 1983 Finals was the last to end within the month of May. All Finals series thereafter would end within the month of June.
This was the only championship not to be won by either the Celtics or Lakers between 1980 and 1988.
[edit] Team rosters
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[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Sheridan, Phil (October 30, 2008). "WORLD CHAMPS!—28 years later, Phillies again are baseball's best". Philadelphia Inquirer: p. A1. http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/20081030_Phil_Sheridan__Phillies_provide_a_season_of_memorable_moments.html?viewAll=y.
[edit] External links
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