5.27.2019

Exactly How Did the Sixers Lose to NJ in the First Round?

September 27, 1984

SIXERS START QUEST FOR REDEMPTION

It is time to find out if a team that went down in flames in April can recall how to fan a fire.

''It seems,'' 76ers general manager Pat Williams was saying, ''like it's been three years since our last game.''



So how come nobody's humming ''Moments To Remember?'' The last time the Sixers played was in the fifth game of the first round of the playoffs against New Jersey, when they held a seven-point lead with seven minutes to go.

But when they reached back to see what they had left, they found themselves clutching at the tormenting reality of futility.

Billy Cunningham had wanted them, after winning the 1982-83 championship, to be remembered. But now the Sixers simply will be recalled as one more team that was unable to win back-to-back titles.

They settled for 52 victories in a trek littered with injuries to virtually every player. Even Cunningham, weakened by the flu, missed a game.

But if Cunningham has a memory of last season extending beyond his own franchise, it is the cold-blooded, relentless fervor with which the Boston Celtics attacked the schedule. The Celtics, stung by an early-round playoff loss to Milwaukee the year before, transformed '83-'84 into a mission.

''I would like to see our team approach this season in much the same way,'' said the Sixers' coach, preparing for training camp, which opens tomorrow morning in Lancaster.

''We need to instill a commitment. This is a group of men who have great pride, who know how to win, who learned in the title year that the real enjoyment is in winning.

''My long-range goal going into camp is to win another championship. For that to happen, everything has to fall into place, but I don't see any reason why we can't do it.''

At the very least, the Sixers appear to be improved, having added Charles Barkley, the 6-6, 266-pound Round Mound of Rebound from Auburn. That gives them, for the first time since George McGinnis, a bona fide power forward capable of scoring, rebounding and clearing an area.

They are probably only a couple of negotiating sessions away from adding Leon Wood, the versatile guard from Cal State-Fullerton who was their second choice in the first round of the draft.

Barkley and Wood will replace forward Leo Rautins (traded to Indiana) and guard Frank Edwards (now a veteran free agent), leaving veteran guard Wes Matthews, third-round picks James Banks and Butch Graves, and fourth-round selection Earl Harrison scuffling for what may be a single spot on the 12-man roster.

But that's by design. Cunningham wants his team chosen and primed early, giving him more time to hone their individual and collective skills, and to address the issues that could create a regular-season obstacle course.

No comments: