With the NBA currently on a long hiatus as the world begins to figure out the next steps in the outbreak of COVID-19, we continue to take a dive into the history of the Philadelphia 76ers by day. Monday’s edition goes back a bit into the annals of history as we go take a look at one of the game’s greats.
We take it back to 1989 when Charles Barkley was leading the Sixers into battle and he had a huge game against Patrick Ewing and the New York Knicks. Needing a win for the Eastern Conference playoff race, the Sixers had a big road matchup with their Atlantic Division rivals and Barkley stepped up in a big way.
March 16, 1989
The Sixers entered Madison Square Garden with a 34-28 record and they needed a win in the tight Eastern Conference race. So, in this case, they turned to Barkley to lead the way against an explosive Knicks team.
The Round Mound of Rebound went for 43 points on 13-for-21 shooting while stepping to the line 18 times, making 17 of them, and he had 12 rebounds in a 121-112 win for Philadelphia. Barkley was so physical with the Knicks down low and he made life miserable for both Ewing and Charles Oakley on that end.
Barkley’s performance was huge due to the fact that the Knicks received 20+ points from Ewing, Oakley, and Johnny Newman. It was not enough to overcome Barkley’s 43 plus 21 points from Mo Cheeks and 22 from Mike Gminski.
The Sixers would go on to earn the 7 seed in the East and run into these same Knicks in the playoffs. Unfortunately, things did not go as smoothly for Philadelphia in the playoffs as they were swept 3-0 in the best of 5 series.
Barkley did all he could for Philadelphia averaging 27 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 5.3 assists while the Sixers also got big contributions out of Ron Anderson, Cheeks, and Gminski, but the Knicks had too much firepower. They made nine 3-pointers in the series compared to just four for Philadelphia–side note, wow has the game changed, or what!?
Barkley would spend three more seasons with the Sixers before being traded to the Phoenix Suns where he would continue his Hall of Fame career before finishing up with the Houston Rockets. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006. [lawrence-related id=27662,27656,27646]