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Clint Richardson came up big in Game 1 of the Eastern finals.
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1983: That Special Season
As the 76ers celebrate the 25th anniversary of their 1983 championship season, here is a weekly look back:
After a four-game sweep of the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals - a series in which the largest margin of victory was 10 points - the Sixers didn't have it much easier to begin their next round.
Playing the Milwaukee Bucks in the first game of the conference finals on May 8, the Sixers escaped with a 111-109 overtime win before a sellout crowd of 18,482 at the Spectrum.
The outcome wasn't decided until one of the NBA's top shooters, Brian Winters, missed a three-point attempt with three seconds remaining. None other than defensive specialist Clint Richardson scored all seven of the Sixers' points in overtime.
This was a game made for an unsung player such as Richardson to shine. That's because four marquee players - Milwaukee's Bob Lanier and Junior Bridgeman and the Sixers' Julius Erving and Andrew Toney - all fouled out. This was a game in which 55 fouls were called and 57 free throws attempted.
Leading the Sixers was Maurice Cheeks, who had 26 points, seven assists, six rebounds and four steals.
Marques Johnson led Milwaukee with 30 points, but fellow Bucks star Sidney Moncrief shot just 1 for 9 and had more turnovers (8) than points (7). And the Sixers escaped with what would be the closest game in the five-game series. - Marc Narducci
