The Philadelphia 76ers have had some amazing moments in their history. They have had great talents such as Julius Erving, Charles Barkley, and Allen Iverson rock the uniform over the years. However, there is one team that stands out for a lot of Sixers fans and that is the 2012 team that pulled off an upset.
The Sixers were a ragtag group led by Andre Iguodala and they entered the 2012 playoffs after a 35-31 finish to the lockout-shortened season and they were the 8 seed taking on the 1 seed Chicago Bulls. It seemed as if the Bulls would make quick work of Philadelphia as they were led by MVP Derrick Rose. One wrong jump by Rose at the end of an easy Game 1 victory changed the entire series.
Rose suffered a torn ACL which ended his series and it opened the door for Philadelphia to make it competitive. Still, Chicago had proven veterans such as Richard Hamilton, Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer, and Joakim Noah and it was still expected that the Bulls would take care of Philadelphia easily.
Noah then suffered an ankle injury in Game 3 of the series to further open the door for the Sixers as Bleacher Report put it:
But the Bulls were battle-tested and fated to advance before a catastrophic injury to Derrick Rose would slam their championship window shut. With just 1:22 remaining and a 12-point lead in Game 1, Rose would crumple to the floor with an injury (torn ACL) that would sideline him for the remainder of the playoffs and the entirety of the 2012-13 season.
To make matters worse, the Bulls lost Joakim Noah to a sprained ankle in a Game 3 loss. Without Rose and Noah, the Bulls failed to score more than 82 points over the last four games of the six-game series.
The Sixers then leaned on Iguodala, Jrue Holiday, Lou Williams, Evan Turner, Spencer Hawes, and veteran Elton Brand and they did just enough to win the series. It was ugly–Philadelphia would not score more than 89 points over the final four games of the series–but it was enough to get the Sixers an impressive series win on the back of an Iguodala free-throw in Game 6.
The Sixers then pushed the Boston Celtics to seven games in the semifinals. They were one win away from going to the Eastern Conference Finals and it was an overall fun ride for the 2012 Sixers. [lawrence-related id=33052,33040,33023]