With the NBA in an indefinite hiatus due to COVID-19, we continue our day-by-day look back at the history of the Philadelphia 76ers. We continue down our path into Sixers history every day as we look to fill the void left by the absence of basketball.
For this edition, we head back to the 2012 playoffs where the 8 seed Sixers faced elimination in Game 6 against the rival Boston Celtics in the semifinals after they upset the Chicago Bulls in Round 1. It appeared that Boston would finally rid themselves of the pesky Sixers after the teams switched off wins over the first five games of this series. However, coach Doug Collins’ team would not give in that easily.
May 23, 2012
Boston was in prime position to finish off the Sixers. Led by Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Rajon Rondo, they were ready to advance to in the Eastern Conference Finals for the third time in five seasons. Instead, the Sixers dug deep and led by Jrue Holiday, they were able to get the job done.
Holiday scored 20 points and six assists to lead the way for Philadelphia while Elton Brand had 13 points and 10 rebounds in an 82-75 win to force a Game 7 and spoil Boston’s victory plans. Evan Turner and Andre Iguodala had 12 points each and Lou Williams added 11 points off the bench.
The Sixers have looked rough in this series, but the major point is, they are headed back to Boston for a chance to head to the Conference Finals. That is enough for Collins as he told reporters postgame:
Game 7. That’s all we wanted was to win tonight and give ourselves a chance to go into Boston and see what happens on Saturday.
Unfortunately, the 8 seed Sixers were not able to keep their miraculous postseason going as they fell in Game 7. Rajon Rondo was just too much for Philadelphia to handle on the night. However, it was a helluva run for Philadelphia and it was something to be proud of for the scrappy bunch. [lawrence-related id=31446,31439,31413,31406]