1981 NBA Playoffs: Sixers vs Celtics

Behind Julius Erving, Philadelphia took the lead after four games, but Boston evened the series with back-to-back two-point wins in Games 5 and 6. Bird nailed a jump shot late in Game 7 to give the Celtics a 91-90 victory and a trip to the Finals.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• larry
• bird
• cedric
• maxwell
• julius
• erving
• bobby
• jones
• philadelphia
• boston

[NDMike]

I am a conservative so I don't want affirmative anything. This game 7 is the first time that officiating in the NBA made me question whether professional gambling or corruption was involved. I was digusted that such an important game could be so negatively dominated by officiating. This turned out to be a prelude to what I believe has been 35 years of poor officiating in the NBA. I submit that officiating in the NBA is the worst of any major professional sport and has been for a long time.

[torr5962]

this recap left out game 7, at 91-89, Cheeks gets a break away and is HAMMERED to the floor. He only makes one to pull 91-90. Sixers get a stop but theres no time left. The foul on Cheeks would be 2 and possesion if it was played today.

[bootiack]

#24 booby janoes dunkin all over the place mad niggerish style, damn celtic had big 3 with max and tiny holy shit what a squad

[HubieBrown2ndPerson]

@NDMike Great Point, Look at Game 7 of Indiana vs N.Y. in 94' with that Reggie Miller foul at the end... Imagine if the NBA had a low-market Indiana/Houston series

[natedaug1]

@torr5962 I don't think the game was that poorly officiated. The Mo Cheeks play was really close but Cheeks got the call. It could have been a charging call.

[arkansoul]

@riotusa1 Another thing, back in the great 80s, every team had at least 2 stars. Name any team from 1980-89 and you'll find 2 stars on EVERY team. It was the team(s) that had 3 stars that won the Finals. Just go back and research it.

[riotusa1]

@arkansoul Yes, it did seem like it was always two of those three teams playing on CBS in the early 80s. You would ocasionally see Portland or Marques Johnson and Milwaukee, but 90 % of the televised games were either Celtics/Sixers, Lakers/Celtics or Sixers/Lakers. That began to change in the mid 80s when Olajuwon and Jordan came into the league and Wilkins' Hawks and Thomas' Pistons emerged

[arkansoul]

Bobby Jones deserves more credit as a great player in his career. He was one of the greatest defensive players of all time. Philly should consider retiring his jersey.

[arkansoul]

@riotusa1 Good analysis. As an 8 yr. old, I watched Moses Malone dominate the series against L.A.. I immediately got worried when I saw that Philly got Malone in that trade. I knew they would beat my Lakers all because of Moses. Is it me, or did it seem like L.A., Boston and Philly played every Sunday on CBS?...

[riotusa1]

@marqymarq1 Yes Magic did miss 45 games that season which makes their 54-28 record that year much more impressive. They had to adjust to playing without him and then adjust to playing with him again and were somewhat out of sync. Still they probably would have beaten the rest of the Western Conference playoff teams but always seemed to have problems with Malone and Paultz and the Rockets half court game

[marqymarq1]

@riotusa1 Dont forget Magic wasnt 100% either that season, he only played like 37 games that season I think.

[SuperJM1980]

this is one of my favorite nba highlights one of the best playoff series of all time