The 1977 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1976-77 NBA season. The Portland Trail Blazers of the Western Conference played against the Philadelphia 76ers of the Eastern Conference, with the 76ers holding home-court advantage. Their 4 regular season meetings had been split evenly, 2-2, with neither side winning away from home. The series was played under a best-of-seven format, so the first team to win four games would win the series and become the league champions. Jump to: navigation, search 1976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1977 was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1977 calendar). ... The National Basketball Association of the United States and Canada, commonly known as the NBA, is the premier professional basketball league in North America. ... The Portland Trail Blazers is a National Basketball Association team based in Portland, Oregon. ... The Western Conference of the National Basketball Association is made up of fifteen teams, and organized in three divisions of five teams each. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Philadelphia 76ers are a National Basketball Association team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, also known as the Sixers for short. ... The Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association is made up of fifteen teams, and organized in three divisions of five teams each. ...

The 1976-77 NBA season started with the merging of the ABA into the NBA. Portland had benefited from the dispersal draft where they aquired power forward Maurice Lucas to partner with Bill Walton, and Philadelphia had signed ABA All-Star and 3-time ABA MVP Julius "Dr. J" Erving, who had taken the New York Nets to the ABA title the previous year. While it was no surprise that Philadelphia had made it to the championship series, having posted the best record in the east (50-32, #1), Portland's appearance in the finals was. Portland, a team that was founded only 7 years earlier, was not only making it's playoffs debut with it's first winning season (49-33, #3), but amazingly it was also making it's finals debut after sweeping the mighty Los Angeles Lakers and league legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 4-0 in the Western Conference Finals. There have been three basketball leagues under this name in the United States: The original American Basketball League existed from 1925 to 1955 An American Basketball League played one full season in 1961-62, and part of the 1962-63 season The American Basketball League was a professional womens... William Theodore Walton III, better known as Bill Walton (born November 5, 1952 in San Diego, California), is a former American basketball player and current television sportscaster. ... Julius Winfield Erving III (born February 22, 1950 in Roosevelt, New York), commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is an American basketball player who helped launch the modern style of play that emphasizes leaping ability and play above the rim. ... The New Jersey Nets are a National Basketball Association team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey. ... The Los Angeles Lakers are a National Basketball Association team based in Los Angeles, California. ... Kareem Abdul Jabbar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born April 16, 1947 in New York City, New York) was a successful high school, collegiate, and professional NBA basketball player. ...

The series quickly went 2-0 in favor of Philadelphia, but over the next four games, Portland mounted an unheard-of series comeback that has rarely been seen in professional sports.

Series Summary

Trail Blazers win series 4-2

Game 1 & 2

Game 1 started with a Dr. J windmill slam dunk off the opening tip, and never got much better for the Blazers, who committed 34 turnovers. Erving scored 33 points and Doug Collins had 30, as the 76ers won 107-101. Walton finished with 28 points and 20 rebounds. Paul Douglas Collins (born July 28, 1951 in Christopher, Illinois), better known as Doug Collins, is a former NBA basketball player and announcer who has also been the head coach of a number of NBA teams. ...

Game 2 was an easy win for the 76ers at 107-89, who at one point scored 14 points in under 3 minutes. Though in the final 5 minutes a fight between Philadelphia's Darryl Dawkins and Portland's Bob Gross cleared both benches and brought coaches, fans, security guards and officials into the fray. Dawkins and Lucas were ejected, and Collins needed four stitches after he caught a punch from Dawkins that had missed it's target. Dawkins and Lucas were each fined $2,500. Darryl Dawkins (born January 11, 1957 in Orlando, Florida) is a former professional basketball player, most noted for his days with the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets, although he also played briefly for the Detroit Pistons and Utah Jazz late in his career. ...

Game 3 & 4

The series moved to Portland for the next two games, and game 3 got underway following a few tense moments as Lucas approached the Philadelphia bench before the game and offered his hand in friendship to Dawkins and the 76ers. The Blazers offense took charge of the game, and posted a 42-point fourth quarter to win 129-107. Lucas had 27 points and 12 rebounds, and Walton contributed 20 points, 18 rebounds, and 9 assists.

Philadelphia attempted to utilize George McGinnis and Caldwell Jones on the inside for game 4, but Walton had other ideas, going on a shotblocking frenzy. Portland quickly led the game by 17 points and never looked back, scoring 41 points in the 3rd quarter and winning 130-98, the largest margin of victory in a game 4 in NBA history. George F. McGinnis (born August 12, 1950 in Indianapolis, Indiana) is a former pro basketball player. ... Caldwell Pops Jones (born August 4, 1950) is a former professional basketball player. ...

Game 5 & 6

Game 5 returned to Philadelphia with the series tied 2-2. Philadelphia spent much of the first half fouling the Blazers, racking up 22 personal fouls and sending the half-time score into the 40s. The Blazers added another 40 points to their total in the 3rd quarter, and with a little over 8 minutes left in the game, Portland led 91-69. Erving rallied his team late in the fourth, scoring 37 points himself, but ultimately lost 110-104. Portland set numerous rebounding records for it's team, 59 (48 defensive, team record) in all which stood until 1985, 24 (20 defensive, another team record) of which belonged to Walton alone, who's team record still stands. 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Portland, now leading the series 3-2, arrived back home for game 6 in the middle of the night to a crowd of 5,000 fans waiting at the airport. With just 48 minutes seperating the Blazers from their first championship, "Blazermania" had gripped the city. Philadelphia kept the game close throughout the first quarter, but were down by 15 at halftime after the Blazers netted 40 points in the 2nd quarter. Erving tried in vain to force a game 7 for his team, scoring 40 points, but Bill Walton's 23 rebounds and 8 blocks kept the game in Portland's hands, for a heart stopping 109-107 win.

Bill Walton was named finals MVP and was called "an inspiration" by the defeated Julius Erving. Maurice Lucas later said of Walton's post-game thrown jersey that was sent into the rushing crowd of fans, "if I had caught the shirt, I would have eaten it. Bill's my hero."

External Links

• Portland Trail Blazers Playoff Records
• NBA History: Walton, Lucas Ignite 'Blazermania'
• 1977 NBA Season Summary - Basketball-Reference.com

Jump to: navigation, search The NBA Finals is the championship series of the National Basketball Association, played under a best-of-seven playoff format. ...