Nice touch. But, even though the Sixers took their two games in the Meadowlands, they came home and inexplicably lost Game 5 in the Spectrum. Two-and-0 on the road; 0-and-3 at home. So much for repeating.
This, of course, had happened once before to the Sixers. Led by the legendary Wilt Chamberlain, they went 68-13 in 1966-67, then went 11-4 in the postseason, eventually winning the title in six games over San Francisco. A year later, they were 62-20, but just 7-6 in the playoffs, forever remembered for losing three straight to Boston after going up, 3-1, in the second round.
(Both '67-68 and '83-84 were followed by organizational shock waves: After '67-68, Chamberlain forced his way out of town, getting traded to the Los Angeles Lakers; after '83-84, the Sixers drafted Charles Barkley.)
The Phillies open postseason play today, faced with the challenge of becoming the first Philadelphia major pro sports team to repeat as champions since the Flyers won Stanley Cups in 1974 and '75. They are the first to even get that chance since the 1983-84 Sixers.
Billy Cunningham played on the '66-67 and '67-68 Sixers teams, and later coached in '82-83 and '83-84.
"We were right there going in to the playoffs in '67-68," Cunningham recalled. "But the roof blew off the Spectrum, we had to play at the Palestra and I broke my wrist, and that was it for me. We were up, 3-1, on the Celtics, but they were great champions; there was a reason Bill Russell won 11 times in 13 years.
"In '83-84, we didn't come back with the same fire. As much as we talked about [avoiding it], we fell into a rut. Looking back, we probably should have made more changes [with the roster]. The Phillies this year added Cliff Lee and Raul Ibanez, stayed with J.A. Happ. They were a young team, but they didn't stand pat; they realized they had to keep getting better."
