2. Got to be hangry
In the 1983 the 76ers were on a mission to win it all. Since the arrival of Dr. J for the 1975-76 season, the Sixers had made at least the Eastern Conference finals every year but one.
They lost three times in the NBA finals (once to Portland and twice to the Lakers) and fell to the Celtics and Washington Bullets (now Wizards) in conference finals.
With Erving getting up there in age, the players realized that 1983 might be their last shot to win it all. Malone, who had arrived that season via trade, was also anxious to win a title, having won one in his long career.
Having in the past three years lost twice to the Lakers in the finals and once to Boston in the conference finals in a heartbreaking seven-game series (their final three losses by a total of five points), nothing less than a championship would be a satisfactory end to the season.
Their resilience and passion showed. In all four games of the finals, the Sixers never held the lead at halftime, yet they never got down on themselves and came back to win every game.
The 2020 76ers know disappointment as well. Although they did not get as far as the Dr. J-era Sixers, they know playoff heartache.
Two years ago, they fell to Boston in the conference semifinals, 4-1, but the series felt much closer. The Sixers thought they had Game 4 won on Marco Belinelli’s buzzer-beater (the Confetti Game) but he was six-inches inside the three-point line. In Game 5, J.J. Redick missed a wide-open three-pointer late in the fourth quarter that probably would have sealed a win and sent the series back to Philly.
Of course, last year we had the four-doink dagger from Kawhi Leonard in Game 7 of the conference semis to win the series for Toronto.
Now two years of despairing endings to the season is different than seven years of coming oh so close.
Lessons learned: The Sixers need to remember the devastating feeling of that loss to Toronto and internalize for motivation in the 2020 playoffs. The players need to come out with the attitude they will not be denied no matter what obstacle is put in front of them.
When this team as motivated, they have shown they can beat anybody, as they have impressive wins over the Lakers, Clippers, Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks.
The difference is that the 1983 team brought it every night. Before this season, coach Brett Brown said his goal was to be the No. 1 seed, which the ’83 squad has achieved, but this year’s team was sixth when the league shut down in March.
The current Sixers were virtually unbeatable at home, they were very beatable on the road, not only dropping games to bottom-feeders like the Atlanta Hawks and Washington Wizards but looking awful doing it.
Bottom line, for every game in the playoffs, the Sixers must come out ‘Hangry’ for a victory.