Presented by the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame
Rough night for Philly sports. The Flyers are on the brink of elimination after falling to the Hurricanes 4-1 last night. The Sixers look to avoid the same thing tonight. Andew Painter did his best Taijuan Walker impersonation as the Phillies lose 12-1. May 8 has seen it’s fair share of Sixers and Flyers playoff moments. The Sixers need all the good karma they can get tonight.
Sixers Take Control
George McGinnis scored twenty-one points and Doug Collins added twenty as the Sixers beat the Rockets 106-97 to go up 2 games to 1 over the Rockets in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Sixers defense held future Sixer hero Moses Malone to 3-11 shooting. They’d finish the Rockets off in six games setting up the Finals matchup against the Blazers in 1977.
Trivia – What is the Sixers record in NBA Finals series since moving to Philadelphia? (Answer Below)
Barber Goes Off
Another Flyers postseason run and another big moment for Reggie Leach. Leach scored two goals in the Flyers win over the Minnesota North Stars. Bill Barber added two himself and an assist as the Flyers made their fourth Stanley Cup Finals appearance in seven years. For Baber, the 1980 Stanley Cup semifinals belonged to Barber. He tied Leach’s team record for goals in a series with nine, set a new team record for points in a series with twelve and set an NHL record for shorthanded goals in a series with three. Unfortunately the Flyers would lose a controversial series to the Islanders, coming up short of the Cup.
Some Things Never Change
The Phillies played their 20,000th game in franchise history in 2014 and it ended the same way their very first game did, with a loss. This time 12-6 to the Blue Jays. Ryan Howard homered for the Phillies, but it wasn’t enough. Edwin Encarnacion hit two of the Blue Jays’ five homeruns including the 200th of his career. I guess you don’t become the losingest franchise in sport without losing a few games.
Steamrolling to the Postseason
The Sixers won their 8th straight game on this day in 2021 beating the Pistons 118-104. Joel Embiid scored 29 points, Tyrese Maxey 22 and Dwight Howard got 19 off of the bench. Howard is one of those guys that you often forget played in Philly. The Sixers would win 10 of their final 12 games to clinch the number 1 seed in the East. The season started late due to the Covid pandemic.
Hope is Alive?
Much like this year, in the 2022 playoffs the Sixers lost the first two games on the road. They came home and won Game 3 and looked to send the series back to Miami tied at two. James Harden messed around and almost had a triple-double scoring 31 while he added 9 assists and 7 rebounds. Joel had 24 as the Sixers pulled it off 116-108. Is the same thing in the cards this year? Let’s hope.
Trivia Answer – The Sixers are 2-4 in the NBA Finals since moving to Philly. Winning in 1967 and 1983 while losing in 1977, 1980, 1982, and 2001.
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