The Philadelphia 76ers have a big Christmas Day matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday so in preparation for that big matchup, it’s time to reminisce on Sixers Christmas past.
In June of 2001, the Sixers fell to the Los Angeles Lakers in five entertaining games in the NBA Finals. The two teams then met again on Christmas Day of 2001 at Staples Center in Los Angeles for a rematch.
The Sixers were led by a big performance from Allen Iverson who dropped 31 points along with eight rebounds, but it was not enough as the Sixers dropped the rematch 88-82 despite holding Kobe Bryant to just 12 points on 6-for-19 shooting. The Lakers were also missing Shaquille O’Neal, but Los Angeles was able to come away with the win.
Philadelphia was not able to get enough offensive production nor the defensive stops down the stretch in order to come away with a win. Los Angeles received 18 points from Samaki Walker, 12 points from Slava Medvedenko, and 13 off the bench from Brian Shaw.
The current Sixers will use Wednesday’s matchup with the Bucks as a measuring stick for where they are at for the moment. [lawrence-related id=22051,22040,22028]