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Harold Katz bought the 76ers in 1982. On his watch, the final piece of the championship puzzle was completed before the 1982-83 season when they acquired center Malone from the aforementioned Houston Rockets. Led by Hall of Famer Julius Erving and All-Stars Maurice Cheeks, Andrew Toney, and Bobby Jones they dominated the regular season, winning 65 games in what is still the second most winning year in franchise history. Malone was named League MVP, and when reporters asked how the playoffs would run, he answered, "four, four, four" — in other words, predicting that the Sixers would sweep all three rounds to win the title, with the minimum 12 games. Malone's deep voice made his boast sound like "fo', fo', fo'."
However, the Sixers backed up Malone's boast. They made a mockery of the Eastern Conference playoffs, first sweeping the New York Knicks and then beating the Milwaukee Bucks in five games. The Sixers went on to win their third NBA championship (and second in Philadelphia) with a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers, who had defeated them the season before. Malone was named the playoffs' MVP. The Sixers didn't quite fulfill Malone's prediction, as their run was actually "fo', fi', fo" ("four, five, four"). Nonetheless, their 12–1 playoff record is the second-best in league history after the 2000-2001 Lakers, who went 15–1 en route to the NBA Title coincidentally beating the 76ers in the finals. The Philadelphia-based group Pieces Of A Dream had a minor hit in 1983 with the R&B song "Fo-Fi-Fo", which title was prompted by Malone's quip.
[edit] Offseason
[edit] NBA Draft
[edit] Regular season
[edit] Season standings
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Note: GP= Games played; REB= Rebounds; AST= Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; AVG = Average
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[edit] NBA Finals
The 1983 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1982-83 NBA season.
The 76ers went on to capture their second NBA championship as they swept the New York Knicks, and proceeded to beat the Milwaukee Bucks in five games. They finally finished it off with a four game sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers, who had defeated them the season before.
Said head coach Billy Cunningham, "The difference from last year was Moses." Malone was named MVP of the 1983 Finals, as well as league MVP for the third time in his career. The 76ers completed one of the most dominating playoff runs in league history with a 12-1 mark after league and NBA Finals MVP Moses promised "Fo', fo', fo" (as in "four, four, four" - four wins to sweep round 1, four wins to sweep round 2, etc.), but it actually wound up as "Fo', fi', fo." (four, five, four). The 76ers were also led by Julius Erving, Maurice Cheeks, Andrew Toney, and Bobby Jones.
The 1983 NBA Finals was the last to end before June 1. This championship is especially noted because it is the last major sports championship for the city of Philadelphia. No other city with all four professional sports teams has a championship drought as long as of 2007. (24 Years)
Following the 1983 NBA Finals, a video documentary called "That Championship Feeling" recaps the NBA Playoff action that year. Dick Stockton narrated the video, and Irene Cara's 1983 hit single "What A Feeling" is the official theme song for the video documentary. For the first time, NBA Entertainment used videotape instead of film for all the on-court and off-court footage.
[edit] Roster
[edit] References
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1982–83 NBA season by team |
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| 1982 NBA Draft • All-Star Game • Playoffs • Finals • Transactions |
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Boston • New Jersey • New York • Philadelphia • Washington
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Atlanta • Chicago • Cleveland • Detroit • Indiana • Milwaukee
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Dallas • Denver • Houston • Kansas City • San Antonio • Utah |
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Golden State • Los Angeles • Phoenix • Portland • San Diego • Seattle
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United States
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