Vote: '83 Moses Malone
"The Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association Wednesday traded center Moses Malone to Philadelphia for seven-foot forward Caldwell Jones and a first round choice in the 1983 draft. The 76ers recently offered Malone a 13.2 million, six year contract to forego his free agent status.
The Rockets were then forced Philadelphia's offer or lose Malone, the NBA's Most Valuable Player in 1982. So, they traded him, thus acquiring a draft choice they hope to use to get either Ralph Simpson of Virginia or Pat Ewing of Georgetown.
The Cavaliers finished last among all NBA teams in 1982, and Houston general manager Ray Patterson says the "laws of averages suggests Cleveland will not finish very high." Malone is 28, Jones 32."
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=V6 ... lone&hl=en
"Moses Malone, no longer burdened with being the biggest scorer on the team, had 21 points and 17 rebounds and Andrew Toney bomb the nets for 33 points Friday night as Philadelphia '76ers beat New York Knicks 104-89 in the National Basketball Association season opener for both games.
"I don't have to score 30 or 36 points a game" said Malone, who was acquired in a trade with Houston Rockets and signed a six year, $13 million contract with the '76ers. "I can go to the boards, unlike Houston where I had two and three guys on me all the time."
Malone, who averaged more than 30 points as the most valuable player in the NBA last season, actually was the third leading scorer for Philadelphia. Julius Erving scored 22 points as the 76ers ruined the debut of new Knicks coach Hubie Brown.
"Other teams will have to be more worried about us, rather than us worried about them." Malone said."
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Ap ... lone&hl=en
"Moses Malone scored 25 points and had 15 rebounds and Julius Erving had 22 points last night as the Philadelphia 76ers, breaking the game open with 25-8 surge in the second quarter, beat the Indiana Pacers 121-106 in a National Basketball Association game.
The Pacers led by eight points early in the game and were still in front by seven, 37-30, before Franklin Edwards started a string of 10 straight points by Philadelphia. Indiana managed to tie the game for the final time at 41-41 with five minutes to go before half time but Erving put Philadelphia ahead to stay.
The 76ers outscored the Pacers 14-4 in the next four minutes for a 55-45 lead. Philadelphia led 57-49 at the intermission, and the Pacers came no closer than seven points in the third quarter. The 76ers streched the lead to 14 points going in the final quarter, 86-72, and Indiana came no closer than 10 points the rest of the game."
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Kv ... lone&hl=en
Moses Frees Erving "To Roam The Court"
"Moses Malone leads the Philadelphia 76ers in scoring and rebounding, but his biggest contribution to the team might be the freedom he gives Julius Erving to roam.
Erving was especially appreciative of the 6-foot-10 center's presence in Philadelphia's 116-108 victory over the Suns last night in Phoenix. The 76ers' small forward scored 34 points, complementing the outside play of guard Andrew Toney and the inside work of Malone.
Toney, who hit 15-of-17 free throws, led all scorers with 34 points and Malone added 19 points and 17 rebounds.
"Even though I'm technically a small forward, you know 6-foot-6, 206 pounds, I basically play in the low post and over the last four or five years, I've earned a living in the post" Erving said. "He (Malone) has sort of given me freedom to roam the court more and not to make requirement to be under the basket all night in order for the team to play up to its potential."
Phoenix coach John MacLeod felt his team played below its potential, especially while committing seven turnovers in the last six minutes. The Suns turnovers helped Philadelphia scored five straight points for a comfortable 107-100 lead.
Larry Nance led the Suns with 21 (?) points followed by Maurice Lucas with 22 points and 12 rebounds."
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xi ... lone&hl=en
"Moses Malone scored a season high 33 points and grabbed 18 rebounds as the Philadelphia 76ers overwhelmed the Boston Celtics 122-105 Tuesday night.
The Celtics were behind by 21 points with 7:33 left, but a rally led by Kevin McHale, Gerald Henderson and Danny Ainge, who scored eight points in four minutes, cut the Sixers lead to 110-100 with 3:32 remaining.
The 76ers stopped Boston's rally on a field goal by Malone with 3:07 left and on a jumper from the left side by Maurice Cheeks with 2:40 to play."
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0E ... lone&hl=en
"Moses Malone and Julius Erving combined for 61 points as the Philadelphia 76ers blew out the Seattle Supersonics 130-117 last night and extended the National Basketball Association's longest winning streak of the season to 14 games.
The 6-foot-10 Malone scored 34 points and Erving 27, although neither played much of the final period. Malone bettered his season high of 33 points by one point. Andrew Toney added 19 for the Sixers."
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1g ... lone&hl=en
This One May Be For the Books
With Julius Erving and Moses Malone starring, the 76ers are writing a new kind of Philadelphia story
"Julius Winfield Erving II stepped out into the sunlight from his car, removed his wire-rim glasses and squinted for a moment, letting his eyes—he has recently become slightly nearsighted—adjust to the glare. Looking down, he took the hand of Julius Winfield Erving III, and they headed toward the loading docks, where meat and produce were being carried onto dozens of heavy trucks that were standing shoulder to shoulder. Dr. J, a few days away from his 33rd birthday, and 8-year-old J had nearly reached the door of Norm and Lou's Restaurant when a big rig rumbled by and bleated noisily at them with its air horn. As the truck slowly rolled off toward Pattison Ave. in South Philadelphia, the driver hit his horn again and leaned out the window. "This is your year, Doc," he yelled, nearly squashing a Toyota as he did so. "Don't disappoint us again. This year the Sixers go all the way." He didn't say, "...or else," but he might as well have.
The playoff woes that have befallen the 76ers in recent years are a frequent topic of sour discussion in Philadelphia, and as Erving sipped a cherry Coke in the diner he asked, "Why is it that with us people always dwell on the past? That's where the interest genuinely is with our team, in talking about our past [failures] instead of what we've accomplished. We've taken so much crap that's unwarranted."
It's nevertheless true that three times in the past six years—1977, 1980 and 1982—Philadelphia has made it to the NBA's championship series only to be beaten in six games each time. The Sixers' regular-season record since 1977-78 has been the best in the league (327-136), and yet year after year the big prize has eluded them. "Somewhere along the line something always broke down," says Los Angeles Coach Pat Riley, whose Lakers handed the Sixers their most recent disappointment in the championship finals.
By last week, however, the question wasn't whether the 76ers were past tense but whether they would be future perfect. By defeating Denver by 21 points, Houston by 29 and New York by 15—in the process holding the Nuggets and Knicks each to just 38 points in the first half—Philadelphia ran its record through Sunday to 46-7, far and away the best in the league this season, and one that puts them on a collision course with history. No NBA team has ever won 70 games during the regular season, and the 76ers have an excellent shot at doing just that. The best regular-season record was achieved by the 1971-72 Lakers (who were also 46-7 after 53 games). They won 33 in a row and finished 69-13, surpassing the previous best record, 68-13, of the 1966-67 Sixers. Both teams went on to win championships.
Although these 76ers would have to play at a seemingly torrid .828 pace in their remaining 29 games to finish with 70 victories, that would actually represent a slight decline from Philly's present .868 clip. In the unlikely event that the Sixers collapse and become just another .500 team for the rest of the season, they would still finish with 60 wins, two more than they had last year. Moreover, the Sixers have an almost unheard-of 22-5 road record, including an astounding 11-1 against Western Conference teams. They've beaten the champion Lakers twice and have yet to lose two straight games; no team has ever gone through an entire season without losing two in a row. And the Celtics, in other years the 76ers' chief tormentors in the Atlantic Division, lay seven games back, a diminishing speck in Philadelphia's wake.
Surely the 76ers would not be so dominant this season had they not beaten Boston for the Eastern Conference championship in '82, after blowing a 3-1 lead in that series. Philly lost Game 5 at Boston and was embarrassed in the second half of Game 6 at home, where they were roundly booed. "I think the seventh game in Boston [which the 76ers won 120-106] helped us," reserve Guard Clint Richardson says in colossal understatement. "After the sixth, practically everybody had given up on us, and we had nowhere to go but to each other. It was a bad feeling and it hurt us, but it made the guys who were involved in that situation a lot closer."
In the championship series against Los Angeles, it was readily evident that although brotherhood is a virtue, a big man who can rebound is even better. Sixers owner Harold Katz decided to go after Houston's league MVP center, Moses Malone, who was a free agent, and when he got Malone for the tidy sum of $13.2 million for six years, the 76ers had the dominating center they'd lacked since Wilt Chamberlain was traded in 1968.
Malone, who led the league in rebounding last year (14.7 a game) and was second in scoring (31.1 points a game), quickly proved that he could also make the quick outlet pass necessary to trigger the Sixers' running game, get out and run on the break himself and close down the middle defensively with an occasional blocked shot. And, oh, how he can go to the boards. Last season Philadelphia's so-called Twin Towers combination of Darryl Dawkins and Caldwell Jones had a total of 232 offensive rebounds. This year Malone got his 232nd in Philadelphia's 40th game, on Jan. 23 in Milwaukee, and he leads the league in rebounding for the third consecutive season, with an average at week's end of 15.7 per game. "I've said all along that the big thing about him is his consistency," says Philly Coach Billy Cunningham. "He doesn't have any off nights." True enough. Malone has been limited to fewer than 10 rebounds only once this year; he had six in 28 minutes in the Sixers' 120-102 victory over Cleveland on Nov. 26.
"When you lose in the finals," Riley says, "it takes a tremendous toll. You lose a little bit of your basketball life. They had a lot of guys who had tasted nothing but the pain, and that's bad. Getting Moses was the best move they could have made. It rejuvenated them. They went out and said, 'With Moses, we're going to win it this year.' You can look at them and see they're more committed."
"When we got Moses our minds changed right away," says Guard Maurice Cheeks, who is having the finest season of an exemplary career as a playmaker, despite the fact that his assist average has dropped from 8.4 last season to 7.4 through Sunday. "Having him here was an important thing for us psychologically, just as important as what he brings us on the floor. Every time we walk on the court now, we think we're going to win."
As a practical matter, Malone's presence has enabled the Sixers to transform what had been a good running game into an exceptional one. "With Moses we anticipate we're going to get every rebound," Cheeks says. "So we start the break higher. And when we get a step on most teams, we're gone."
The instigator of all this, Malone, who came out of Petersburg (Va.) High in 1974 right into the ABA, has proved that if anyone is worth $2.2 million a year, it's he. He has averaged 37.5 minutes of playing time a game—he went 56 minutes in a double-overtime victory over Boston on Nov. 6—has massaged the boards and has been a timely scorer. When Cunningham has called on him to do so, Malone has also played power forward, giving new definition to that term while lending the Sixers a little versatility underneath. "It's never easy for Moses," says Moses. "Moses got to get out there every night and work hard."
Malone isn't interested in winning 70 games and then getting smoked in the playoffs. "All we got to do now is play ball and not let up," he says. "Can't take no prisoners. If we win the whole thing, that's a great team. I don't care nothing about breaking no records. Huh!"
One of Malone's greatest admirers is Irv Kosloff, who owned the team from the time of its transfer from Syracuse, in 1963, until 1976 and remains close to the 76er scene. "Moses reminds me a lot of Wilt when we won the title in 1967," Kosloff says. "Wilt hadn't won a title, and he worked hard for it. Moses hasn't won one either, and he works so hard that he makes the other players feel guilty if they don't put out as much effort."
Not everyone was convinced that acquiring Malone was such a bright idea. "I think some of the players questioned some of what we did in the off-season," Cunningham says. "But by December we had developed a clear personality and our confidence started growing. I think beating some of the better teams helped convince them." Erving, for one, had adopted a "wait and see" attitude when veterans like Dawkins, Caldwell Jones, Lionel Hollins, Mike Bantom and Steve Mix (the Doc's road roommate) were either traded or not signed to make Malone's enormous contract feasible. The Sixers started the season with four less costly rookies, more than any other team in the league carried, and gambled that the lack of depth on the bench wouldn't hurt. It hasn't. Cunningham even went so far as to put 26-year-old rookie Marc Iavaroni at the starting power forward position, despite the fact that Iavaroni had been bounced from three pro camps after his graduation from Virginia in 1978. He had spent the past four seasons playing in Italy and serving as Virginia's graduate assistant coach, which earned him playing time against Ralph Sampson in scrimmages. When Cunningham gave Iavaroni a chance, he made the most of it, diligently screening the opposition's rebounding forward off the boards so Malone could work in comparative peace.
Iavaroni did have some adjustments to make, most of them mental. On a trip to Atlanta, for instance, Cunningham told the players that the day-of-the-game shootaround would be 10 to 11. Iavaroni showed up at 10 minutes till 11 o'clock.
Besides the youth movement, another concession to Malone's contract is that the 76ers now get around out of town in rental cars, where once they traveled on more costly buses. Iavaroni was charged with the care of Erving's bags one night in San Diego, and when the Doctor was detained by reporters after the game, he instructed Iavaroni to "leave my luggage with the bellman." But instead of driving directly to Los Angeles, which was the Sixers' next stop, Iavaroni drove his car back to the San Diego hotel the team had already checked out of and gave Erving's luggage to the bellman there. The bags were eventually sent to L.A.
Obviously, the Sixers could not depend on Iavaroni to carry all the heavy load at forward, so last week they moved a step closer to the championship by filling one roster vacancy with veteran Forward Reggie Johnson, a 6'9", 205-pounder whom they purchased from Kansas City for a reported $150,000, and by trading rookie Forward Russ Schoene (and a No. 1 draft pick this year and a No. 2 in '84) to Indiana for backup Center Clemon Johnson (and a No. 3 pick in 1984). "I was ecstatic with the first part of the season," Cunningham said following the deals, "but we wanted to make ourselves stronger." Katz was overjoyed to get the two players, although both could be free agents at the end of the season. "I know Billy doesn't like to hear this kind of talk," Katz said, "but I believe this is the best team we've ever had in Philly, maybe the best team ever."
Katz has another reason to be pleased. The Sixers are doing boffo business. Though they have been an artistic success since Erving's arrival in 1976, they've been a financial failure. Attendance in 1980-81 had fallen to 11,448 a game, and though it increased to 12,362 last season, the 76ers still lost money. So the team raised ticket prices—a hefty 45% on the average. Although one can still get a seat for $6 (up from $5), the top ticket went from $11 to $16 and, taking a cue from the Lakers, the Sixers moved press row from the sidelines to behind one basket and installed a VIP row at $50 a seat. Nonetheless, as a result of the Sixers' superlative record, attendance has soared 25%, to a league-leading average of 15,229 a game. What's more, ticket revenue has zoomed by 72%.
But success has added a new problem. "We're expected to win every night," Assistant General Manager John Nash says. "Some people say there are only a couple of teams that can provide us with competition, so why come out? But that's a marketing problem."
If the Sixers prove to be the best team ever, they will have earned it. "The aggressiveness we have is consistent every night," says substitute Forward Bobby Jones. "I've never seen a team that had it like this team does. Every night our opponents know what they're going to face for 48 minutes, and we don't let up."
"I think they're a great team, but I think they've been great," said Doug Moe, coach of the Nuggets, after their 116-95 trouncing by Philly last week. "I don't believe that because they haven't won a championship they're failures. I happen to think the regular season is more meaningful than the playoffs. Hell, anybody can get up for the playoffs, but the regular season is a grind. If they win 70, yeah, they're a great team."
Philadelphia probably would have been a better team this season even without the addition of Malone, if for no other reason than the emergence of third-year pro Andrew Toney, formerly just a spectacular shooter, as a complete player. Toney was a substitute most of his first two seasons in Philadelphia; he became a regular in the playoffs last spring when Hollins was injured and he's still starting. Through Sunday he was scoring 19.6 points a game, third on the team behind Malone (24.2) and Erving (22.6), while playing sound defense. He also has learned to hit the open man even when he has a shot he thinks he can make, which is virtually all the time. "He sees things out on the court that other players just don't see," says Erving, who has become something of a mentor to Toney. "Andrew has such strong wrists that he can throw the pass off the dribble, sideways, behind his head, any way. He came into the league with the shot, but Billy stayed on him and saw to it that Andrew was not a one-dimensional player."
Erving awaits the stretch run with keen interest. "I think we've proved we're a good team, potentially a great one," Erving says. "We're probably hungrier than the Lakers or the Celtics, and that helps. The last time I experienced a championship was in 1976 [with the ABA Nets], and seven seasons is a long drought. Moses hasn't won one ever. Bobby hasn't. Maurice. Andrew. We haven't had the ultimate success, and we've got guys this year who really want it.
"The pain that was suffered, the feeling of having backs turned on us, that's still with this team. But the positive side is carried with us, too. We have the scars, but we also have the glue. I don't feel incomplete or inadequate in any way because I haven't won an NBA championship. I don't lie awake nights and think about it. I know I've given my best to the public, and the rest is really out of my hands. I can accept that."
This year the Doc may not have to accept anything but a championship trophy. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy."
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/ ... /index.htm
"Moses Malone dropped in two free throws with 5 seconds left in overtime to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 104-101 National Basketball Association victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Milwaukee's Marques Johnson had tied the score at 93 on a 13-foot jump shot with 2:34 left in the fourth quarter, and neither team could muster another point in regulation. The win kept the 76ers atop the NBA's Atlantic Division with a 58-10 record. Philadelphia has now won eight of the last nine games, and 24 in a row at home, one short of a club record.
Milwaukee, in first place in the Central Division with a 45-25 record, saw a two game winning snapped.
Malone, who finished with a game high 25 points on his 28th birthday, was fouled intentionally by Bob Lanier before making the winning free throws. Milwaukee then inbounded the ball to Charlie Criss, who attempted a three point field goal but hit the backboard.
Field goals by Reggie Jackson and Maurice Cheeks gave Philadelphia a 102-97 lead with 58 seconds left in the overtime. Marques Johnson, who led the Bucks with 24 points, hit a three pointer to bring the Bucks within 102-100.
Andrew Toney added 21 and Cheeks 16 for the 76ers. The score was tied 18 times in regulation, including a 21-21 deadlock at the end of the first period. Philadelphia led 44-43 at the half and 74-71 after three quarters."
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=te ... lone&hl=en
"Moses Malone scored 26 points, including eight in the fourth quarter, as the Philadelphia 76ers held off Cleveland rally to beat the Cavaliers 96-84 in a National Basketball Association game Sunday night.
The victory kept alive the 76ers' chance to tie the NBA record for most victories in a season, 69, set in a 1971-72 season by the Lakers. To match the record, Philadelphia, 61-13, must win its remaining eight games.
The 76ers led 71-61 entering the final period. The Cavaliers, however, got eight points from Cliff Robinson to pull within six points three times in the quarter.
Cleveland twice blew chances to pull within four points -- once when Robinson missed a dunk with eight minutes left and again four minutes later when Bruce Flowers missed a jumper.
Philadelphia then scored the next six points, including four by Franklin Edwards, to clinch the victory. The 76ers', who led 51-39 at halftime, got 14 points from Maurice Cheeks. Bobby Jones added 13.
Fourteen of Malone's points came from the free throw line. Robinson scored 20 points for the Cavaliers, who have lost last 16 games with Philadelphia. Geoff Huston had 18 and Phil Hubbard added 16."
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BK ... lone&hl=en
Game 1 ECSF:
"Moses Malone, who spent the past two weeks aching knees, returned to the line up Sunday and scored 38 points to lift the Philadelphia 76ers to a 112-102 victory over the New York Knicks in the opener of the their NBA Eastern Conference semifinal series.
The second game of the best of seven series will be played Wednesday night in Philadelphia.
Malone missed the final week of the regular season with tendinitis of the right knee and had to walk off practice floor last Thursday when his knee became inflamed. But he did not look hurt to the Knicks, shooting 15-21 from the field and pulling down 17 rebounds.
Malone scored 14 points in the second quarter to spark the 76ers to a 61-55 lead at halftime. Then, with Philadelphia clinging into a two point lead early in the third quarter, Malone scored two baskets in a row of 13 points that gave the Sixers a 79-64 lead with 5:25 left in the period and New York never got closer than nine in the final minute."
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Ef ... icks&hl=en
"In between, Moses Malone played 38 minutes of brilliant, hard basketball, more than any of his co-workers. He scored 38 points, matching his high for the season. He muscled 17 rebounds, had four assists, shot 15-23 from the field, 8-9 from the foul line and helped the 76ers to blow out the Knicks, 112-102 in the first game of their playoff showdown."
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Mx ... icks&hl=en
Game 2
"Moses Malone and Maurice Cheeks ignited a third quarter spurt that rallied Philadelphia from a 20 point deficit Wednesday night and led the 76ers to a 98-91 victory over the New York Knicks and 2-0 advantage in their NBA playoff series.
The best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal match up moves to New York for Games 3 and 4 Saturday and Sunday.
The 76ers trailed 59-41 at halftime and 63-43 early in the third quarter before holding the Knicks to one foul shot in a 22-1 spurt over 9:45 span to take a 65-64 lead. Malone scored eight of his game high 30 points in the rally and Cheeks, who finished with 24, added six points and two steals."
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vO ... icks&hl=en
"Center Moses Malone and guard Maurice Cheeks were the architects of the 76ers comeback. Malone scored 30 points, grabbed 17 rebounds, made four steals and blocked three shots while Cheeks collected 26 points, handed out six assists and made four steals."
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dY ... icks&hl=en
Game 3
"A New York double team of Julius Erving set up a 14-foot, game winning basket Saturday by Philadelphia's Franklin Edwards, a little known guard back up guard on the 76ers team with four all-stars.
"It wasn't designed for me" said Edwards, whose basket with two seconds left gave the 76ers a 107-105 National Basketball Association victory over the Knicks and a 3-0 lead in their best of seven series. "We wanted to isolate Doc one on one. But when they went with to double team Doc, I got the ball and started to go to the basket. I felt time was running shortso I put the ball up. I thought it was a good shot.
"This is the biggest thrill of my life". Philadelphia needs one more victory to advance to the Eastern Conference finals against the winner of the Boston-Milwaukee series in which the Bucks lead, 2-0. Game 4 of the 76ers-Knick series will be here today.
Edwards said after he got the ball he also tried to find Moses Malone, but the Knicks' defense was sagging on him. Edwards shared the hero's mantle with Malone and Maurice Cheeks, who scored 28 and 24 respectively, and combined for Philadelphia's 16 before Edward's game winner."
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=aU ... icks&hl=en
Game 4
"It's over now, but if you listen closely, you probably still can hear the echo of Moses Malone's thunderclap bouncing off the buildings of Manhattan's West Side.
Malone, tearing through the desperate fourth quarter defense of the New York Knicks, destroyed them one on five yesterday, leading the injury riddled 76ers to a 105-102 and a 4-0 sweep of their NBA Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series.
He scored 29 points. He brought down 14 rebounds. But that doesn't tell the whole tale of the devastation the Sixers' center wrecked in front of 15,457 fans at Madison Squad Garden. In the fourth quarter, he was better than any numbers could indicate--certainly better than New York could encounter.
"Moses", the Knicks' Ernie Grunfeld said, almost whispering "is the difference in the Sixers."
New York Coach Hubbie Brown agreed.
"You must congratulate the winners, especially the awesome display of Moses Malone. He's such a disruptive force. I thought our centers played him as well as anyone could, but he was able to get shots off during total duress. I have never seen him hit that many shots before."
As for Malone, he viewed his performance stoically. "I figured the only way to help the team was to go to the defensive rebounds and get things going." Get things going? He not only got things going on the boards, he did it in just about every department.
"We wanted to give him the opportunity to be the dominant factor for us" said Julius Erving (18 points, seven rebounds, two blocked shots). "That didn't happen in the first half. Our ace in the hole is the man in the middle, and that's who we wanted to go to."
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4H ... icks&hl=en
For the series, Moses Malone averaged 31.3 PPG, 15.5 RPG, 2 APG, 57.5% FG vs the Knickerbockers in a four game sweep where he was the dominant force behind Philly's success.
Big Mo and Little Mo Need One 'Mo
Moses Malone and Maurice Cheeks led the Philadelphia 76ers to a commanding 3-1 lead advantage in the NBA eastern finals
Not long after the Philadelphia 76ers' 104-96 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 3 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals last Saturday, Sixer Coach Billy Cunningham, owner Harold Katz and Assistant General Manager John Nash were dining at The Clock, a Milwaukee restaurant, when they had to suffer through an impromptu monologue from a Bucks fan who had spent too much time drowning his sorrows.
" Wilt Chamberlain would've eaten Moses Malone alive," the man began. "Mo wouldn't score a point against Wilt." Cunningham kept his cool, perhaps secure in the knowledge that even if Wilt were suited up for the Bucks and even if he did shut down Malone, he wouldn't have been able to handle Julius Erving, Andrew Toney, Maurice Cheeks, Bobby Jones and the rest of this marvelous team.
Such is the overall beauty of the 76ers that the Bucks could win but one of the series' first four games, 100-94 last Sunday in Game 4, which prevented the Sixers from sweeping them as they had swept the New York Knicks in the conference semis. And these Bucks are no pushovers. In the Eastern semis they had given the broom to the Boston Celtics. "We were the ones making the big plays against Boston; now the Sixers are doing it to us," said Milwaukee Forward Junior Bridgeman after Game 3. "We have no excuses. We did what we wanted to do, but how can you defend against every player or every play?"
You can't, which is the main reason why Philadelphia had won 50 of its first 57 regular-season games en route to a league-best 65-17 record. But despite, or perhaps because of, that success—and because the 76ers have failed so often in the past to win the league title—there has been exceedingly heavy pressure on this Philly team to win it all. "We're not going to win games by 20 points now like we did in the regular season. We don't expect to," said Cunningham before Game 2. "In a way it's been nicer to win like this because each of our playoff wins has been different, and we've always been able to do whatever's necessary."
The man who perhaps feels it is most necessary to win this year's playoffs is Cunningham, who, despite a 395-173 career record in his six seasons, hasn't seemed to glean any real joy from his work. "There's been a lot of pressure on him," Guard Clint Richardson says. "You would think it would be fun coaching this team, but in a way it's not, because we have to win the title sometime.
"All along people have said that you really don't have to coach this team. But a very talented bunch like this can be poison if it's not coached, because everyone would just go off in his own direction and the team would get messed up. Cunningham hasn't gotten his due yet, but since his early years he's gotten much better. The big thing is he has more confidence in us; he'll stay with us a little longer. Before he lacked patience."
That patience was evident during Game 3. Rookie Forward Marc Iavaroni was yanked by Cunningham with 5:59 remaining in the third quarter after two consecutive turnovers leading to two Milwaukee scores. "The way Marc was playing then, I didn't think we'd see him the rest of the playoffs," one Sixer said later. Yet in less than five minutes Cunningham returned Iavaroni to the floor.
Such confidence-building moves have no doubt been helpful, but one shouldn't forget that the Sixers' march through the playoffs was preordained by Moses. As the Sixers trained for their opening round against New York, Cunningham asked Malone how he saw the upcoming playoffs. Malone rumbled, "Fo', fo' and fo'," as in three four-game sweeps on the way to Philadelphia's first title since 1967, when Cunningham was the sixth man and Chamberlain was The Man. But ever since Katz plucked Malone from Houston last September and gave him $13.2 million over six years, he has been The Man. A two-time MVP who has led the league in rebounding the past three years, Malone ended the power shortage that had caused the Sixers to fizzle out in the 1980 and '82 NBA finals against the Lakers.
This season Malone quickly defused criticism that he couldn't play the Sixers' running game. "It's Julius' team; I'm just here to work hard," he said before play began. But it soon became apparent that Malone was Philly's most important player. Indeed, when Malone sat out the last four regular-season games with tendinitis of the right knee, the Sixers won only one of them.
Then, during the Sixers' week off before the start of postseason play, Malone developed an inflamed left knee, causing much trepidation. But he exploded for 38 points and 17 rebounds in the opener against the Knicks and, apart from the first game against the Bucks—when Bob Lanier and a sagging Buck defense held Malone to 14 points—he has been a force that no one has been able to deal with.
t was largely because of Malone's presence that Milwaukee Coach Don Nelson said early last week, "The way I look at it, if we were better than them, we'd have won 65 games and we would have the home-court advantage."
Milwaukee's offense all year had been generated by the dazzling duo of Guard/Forward Sidney Moncrief and Forward Marques Johnson. In Game 1 in Philadelphia, Johnson had 30 points, getting 12 of them consecutively at the end of the first half to help cut a 16-point Philly lead to two. It took a spectacular steal by Bobby Jones of an inbounds pass and his blind pass to Richardson, who dunked for his sixth point in overtime, to clinch Philly's 111-109 victory.
Despite the loss, the Bucks had reason to be pleased going into Game 2. They had controlled Malone and come close to winning despite a seven-point performance by Moncrief. Milwaukee committed 25 turnovers in the opener, but before Game 2 Nelson said he had taken care of that problem, too. "I told all my players at practice today that I have a size 14 shoe and that I will plant it up their you-know-wheres if they don't take care of the ball better," Nelson said. "Of course, some of their rears are so big that my foot might disappear."
Instead, it was the Milwaukee offense that disappeared—just when it had in Game 1—during the final few minutes of Philadelphia's 87-81 victory. And again Jones made the key defensive play, blocking a layup attempt by Brian Winters that resulted in an Erving slam that effectively iced the game.
"They've tried to slow the game down, tried to bully us. I don't know what else they can do, but they have to do something, don't they?" Richardson asked after the second Philly win. Indeed, a victory in Game 3 would be crucial to Milwaukee. No team in NBA history has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven series.
Clearly Erving, who had scored just six points in Game 2 and two points in the second half of Game 1—following a 17-point first half—was due to break out as the series shifted to Milwaukee. To be sure, he had missed one practice with a sore left knee. Said Marques Johnson, "He has to be hurting. He's not playing like he usually does on offense. When he's at his best he just explodes on you."
It was Milwaukee that did the exploding in Game 3. Bridgeman, who had been made a starter in Game 2 to get some scoring going, but shot a ghastly 1 for 12, got 16 points in the first half as Milwaukee took a 48-45 lead.
The lead had reached seven, 78-71, with 9:57 to play in the game, when Cunningham leaped off the bench and called time, presumably to berate the 76ers. Before he could begin, Cheeks, who was out of the game at the time, gave Cunningham a slap on the rear, as if to say, "Don't worry, things are going to be all right."
Cheeks helped by going in and scoring seven consecutive points to tie the game at 78 with 8:24 to play. Then Erving, who would finish with 26 points, took over, scoring 11 points in the last eight minutes to ensure victory and erase any doubts about his health.
But it was Cheeks—the most consistent Philadelphian during the postseason, according to Cunningham—who hadn't let the game slip away. As in years past, Little Mo has elevated his game during the playoffs. His 18.8-point average through Sunday was six higher than his regular-season pace.
"In the playoffs there's a tendency for people to do things they're not capable of," Cheeks says. "Doc and Moses can take over a game. I have to do it by getting a steal and trying to pick up the tempo a bit. You know, work for it."
Despite the Sixers' overwhelming talent. Cheeks still tries to leave nothing to chance. During last season's playoffs he kept a rubber band around his wrist—just as Chamberlain used to—because the Sixers were on a hot streak. This year the good luck charm is the trace of a beard growing beneath his chin, another Wilt trademark.
Hold on a mo', Little Mo. With Big Mo and you and the Doctor and Jones and...who needs Wilt?
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/ ... /index.htm
I really don't know what to say to this -- I'm going to assume you didn't mean it as a slight, but it's originating from somewhere in you and that concerns me. It's especially concerning on the heels of a post in which I announce that part of the analytical process is the hundreds of games that I watch yearly and all the data surrounding those games that can't possible be jammed into a written piece. 
Y'know I'm not promoting the guy who wrote this article, I'm just re-iterating stuff that was said about Paul not too long ago.