1977 NBA Finals Game 6: Blazers vs Sixers

Portland, now leading the series 3-2, arrived back home for Game 6 in the middle of the night to a crowd of 5,000 fans waiting at the airport. With just 48 minutes separating the Blazers from their first championship, "Blazermania" had gripped the city. Philadelphia kept the game close throughout the first quarter, but were down by 15 at halftime after the Blazers netted 40 points in the 2nd quarter. Erving tried in vain to force a game 7 for his team, scoring 40 points, but Bill Walton's 23 rebounds and 8 blocks kept the game in Portland's hands, as Philadelphia's George McGinnis missed the game-tying shot with seconds left sent for a heart stopping 109-107 Portland win.

Bill Walton was named finals MVP and was called "an inspiration" by the defeated Julius Erving. Maurice Lucas later said of Walton's post-game thrown jersey that was sent into the rushing crowd of fans, "if I had caught the shirt, I would have eaten it. Bill's my hero."

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[WatchVenusSpa]

Ah the days when David Stern wasn't commish and fixing games and making it impossible for small markets to compete. Blazermania forever!

[Harley Guy]

RIP....The Enforcer.

[BringtheGold1]

In one of the biggest states in the country and also a state that is obsessed with itself...Texas. So you better believe Mavs and Rockets fans root for San Antonio once their team is out and those are HUGE markets.

[Finn Olaf]

loid kneel

[Seth Johnson]

someday... someday... Portland will once again go wild... =')

[bwdenman]

There is no parity in the modern NBA. A few teams have the best players. Now we are moving into the time of multiple superstars on one team. I agree the NBA is corrupt.

[DannyGTheRipper]

San antonio A small town Team?

[John Hagan Jr]

Really, the reason why teams like Portland have not won these championships recently, is not because the games are fixed, it's because teams like Portland do not draft, select players very well, if fixing were the case, than New York Knicks, LA Lakers, Boston Celtics and the Chicago Bulls would be the only teams to ever win championships, not some small town team like San Antonio. Stop smoking dope.

john.haganjr

[John Hagan Jr]

We said, a very classy statement.

john.haganjr

[John Hagan Jr]

Doc should have the ball at the last seconds of a game not George Mcgoffnes.

john.haganjr

[MrKLC42]

A couple of points about the NBA Finals back then.

#1. A lot of the games were played in the afternoon instead of prime time.

#2. No post game analysis or interviews. Have to get to that Kemper Open!