YouTube Gold: 1980 Eastern Conference Finals Game Between The Celtics And The Sixers
Greatness on both sides
The 1980’s were a golden era in NBA basketball and while Larry Bird and Magic Johnson led Boston and Los Angeles to great heights, the Philadelphia 76ers were right there with them and are often overlooked.
In 1980, Bird and Johnson were precocious rookies destined to become legends. Philly was led by Julius Erving, who was supported by Doug Collins, Lionel Hollins, Bobby Jones, Henry Bibby, Maurice Cheeks, Caldwell Jones, Steve Mixe and Darryl Dawkins. Also notable on that roster: Al Skinner, who would go on to coach Boston College, and Duke’s Jim Spanarkel, who was a rookie.
Boston was led by rookie Bird, Dave Cowens, Cedric Maxwell, Tiny Archibald, Chris Ford, ML Carr, Pete Maravich and Don Chaney. Also notable: Gerald Henderson, Sr., whose son Gerald Jr. would come to Duke years later.
As great as the Boston-LA thing was, Boston and Philly was just as intense and became more so when the Sixers got Moses Malone and the brilliant Andrew Toney.
Los Angeles became a regular in the finals in the 1980’s and they would usually get either the Sixers or the Celtics.
In 1980, Philly would advance to play the Lakers and Magic Johnson, in one of the greatest performance in playoff history, moved from point guard to center (read that again) to replace the injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Game 6, scoring 42 points, pulling down 15 rebounds and handing out seven assists.
He was a 20-year-old rookie.