Sixers set playoffs record with third straight win by just a point
From Elias: The 76ers defeated the Celtics by one point on Monday after Boston won the first game of the series by the minimum margin. And Philadelphia won Game 6 of their first-round series against Chicago by one point. The 76ers are the first team in the history of the NBA playoffs to play three consecutive games decided by a single point. The only other NBA playoff series in which the first two games were both decided by the minimum margin was the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals, when Orlando and Cleveland split the first two games (and the Magic eventually won the series in six games).
(Source: ESPN)
Sixers set NBA record with series win over the Bulls
From Elias: The 76ers defeated the Bulls, 79-78, and won their opening-round series in six games. Philadelphia was only 29-for-73 (.397) from the field and was out-rebounded, 56-33. No other team in NBA history won a playoff game in which it recorded a field-goal percentage under 40.0 percent and had at least 20 fewer rebounds than its opponent.
It was the third game in the series in which the winning team scored fewer than 80 points, tying a shot clock-era record. There were also three such games in the 2004 Eastern Conference Finals between the Pistons and Pacers, a series Detroit won in six games.
(Source: ESPN)
May 11, 1980 - Game 4 1980 NBA Finals - the Dr. J lay-up:oOne of the NBA’s most memorable moves takes place as Julius Erving of the Philadelphia 76ers starts out on the right side and drives past Los Angeles Lakers forward Mark Landsberger along the baseline. As Erving elevates toward the basket, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar comes over to block a layup attempt. Erving changes course in mid-air and floats behind the backboard to the other side of the basket then wraps his right arm behind Kareem and lays in a reverse layup. “Here I was trying to win a championship and my mouth just dropped open,” recalls Lakers’ guard Magic Johnson, then a rookie. “I thought, ‘What should we do? Should we take the ball out or should we ask him to do it again?’” The Lakers would win the series in six games.
(Source: hoopedia.nba.com)
Bulls stave off elimination behind Deng’s 24 points
From Elias: Luol Deng took game honors with 24 points, making 10 baskets including a four-pack of three-pointers, as the Bulls fought off elimination with a 77-69 victory over the 76ers. Deng didn’t get to the foul line all night, which is just as well; he might have caught whatever was afflicting his teammates, who made only 36.4 percent of their free-throw attempts (four of 11). That’s the fourth-lowest one-team free-throw percentage (minimum: 10 free-throw attempts) in a playoff game in the NBA’s shot-clock era; the other three teams to shoot that poorly from the line all had either Wilt Chamberlain or Shaquille O’Neal on the team, and none of those teams won the game.
(Source: ESPN)
Sixers beat Bulls for third straight game, match 1994 Nuggets record
From Elias: The 76ers have the Bulls on the brink of elimination after winning three straight games following the season-ending injury to Derrick Rose. Philadelphia is the first eighth-seeded team to win three straight NBA playoff games since the Knicks won six in a row during the 1999 postseason, which also followed an abbreviated regular season. New York won its first-round finale at Miami that year, before sweeping a four-game series against the Hawks and taking the first game of the Conference Finals against the Pacers. The 76ers are the first #8 seed to win three straight playoff games against a #1 seed since the Nuggets won the last three games of their best-of-five first-round series against the SuperSonics in 1994 (after trailing that series two-games-to-none).
(Source: ESPN)
Sixers have second-best shooting night in the playoffs ever
The 76ers made 46 of 78 shots (59.0%), their second-highest field-goal percentage in a road playoff game, behind a 54 for 91 (59.3%) game against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden in 1978.
Sixers win with balanced scoring
From Elias: Elton Brand, Thaddeus Young and Jrue Holiday shared team-high honors with 15 points apiece in the 76ers’ 105-87 triumph against the Nets. It’s the fifth time this season that Philadelphia won a game in which none of its players scored more than 15 points, the most such victories for any NBA team.
(Source: ESPN)
Holiday is perfect from beyond the arc
From Elias: Jrue Holiday scored 24 points and went 6-for-6 from three point range in Philadelphia’s victory over Cleveland on Wednesday night. That tied the Sixers’ franchise record for most three-point field-goals made without a miss in a game. Two other Sixers went 6-for-6 from beyond the arc: Charles Barkley on February 22, 1989 and Vernon Maxwell on December 27, 1995.
(Source: ESPN)
Most rebounds in a half?
Tonight Bynum had 19 rebounds in a half - who holds the record for the most? Not Wilt.
Andrew Bynum grabbed 19 rebounds in the first half tonight against the Spurs - which was a high for any Spurs opponent ever - and he finished with 30 rebounds overall (also a high against San Antonio) but who holds the NBA record for most rebounds grabbed in one half?
Amazingly, it’s not Wilt Chamberlain, who holds the record for most rebounds in a game at 55. The most in a half was set by Bill Russell, who grabbed 32 rebounds in 24 minutes versus Philadelphia on November 16, 1957, according to NBA.com.
