the last time the 76ers went to the finals was 2001.
the last time the 76ers went to the finals was 2001.
when was the last time the 76ers went to the finals?
2001
however, the 76ers backed up malone's boast. they made a mockery of the eastern conference playoffs, first sweeping the new york knicks and then beating the milwaukee bucks in five games. the 76ers went on to win their third nba championship (and second in philadelphia) with a four-game sweep of the los angeles lakers, who had defeated them the season before. malone was named the playoffs' mvp. the 76ers didn't quite fulfill malone's prediction, as their run was actually "fo', fi', fo" ("four, five, four") – a loss to the bucks in game four of the eastern finals being the only blemish on their playoff run. nonetheless, their 12–1 playoff record is tied for the fewest losses in league history with the 2000–2001 lakers, who went 15–1 en route to the nba title, coincidentally beating the 76ers in the finals (after suffering their only defeat that postseason in game 1), and the 2016-17 golden state warriors, who finished the 2017 nba postseason 16-1. the philadelphia-based group pieces of a dream had a minor hit in 1983 with the r&b song "fo-fi-fo", which title was prompted by malone's quip. this also marked the last championship in philadelphia until the phillies won the 2008 world series.
history of the philadelphia 76ers
the bottom fell out in the 1972–73 season. for all intents and purposes, the season ended when cunningham bolted to the aba, leaving the sixers with a roster of greer and little else. the 76ers lost their first 15 games of the season, and a few months later set a then-record 20-game losing streak in a single season. their record following the 20-game losing streak was 4–58, and the team at that point had just lost 34 of 35 games. the 76ers finished the season with a 9–73 record, leading the skeptical philadelphia press to call them the "nine and 73-ers". under coach roy rubin the 76ers went 4-47. it was his first and, as it turned out, his last nba coaching job. he was succeeded by player-coach kevin loughery, who went 5-26 the rest of the way. the 76ers finished an nba-record 59 games behind the atlantic division champion boston celtics. the nine wins by the 1972–73 squad is the fourth fewest in nba history, and remains the fewest for a full 82 game season. the 73 losses, although threatened several times, remains the all-time low-water mark for any nba franchise. the 76ers' 0.110 winning percentage was a record worst at the time, and is still the second lowest in nba history. this record was broken by the 2011–2012 charlotte bobcats which was shortened due to a lockout. (that bobcats team finished 7-59, for a .106 winning percentage.) only six seasons earlier, the 76ers had set the nba record for most wins in a season. the 76ers of 1972–73 is considered to be the worst team that ever played in nba history.
history of the philadelphia 76ers