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Defense Films Lists His Favorite NBA Championship Runs

The 2020/21 NBA season had as memorable and as fitting of a conclusion as this season could have offered and the extent to which I enjoyed the Bucks post season journey to a championship got me thinking of playoff runs I enjoyed either witnessing or going back and watching.

So it’s time to get nostalgic as Defense Films presents his favorite championship runs in NBA history.

5. Fo Fo Fo- 1983 Philadelphia 76ers

Moses Malone’s now infamous “fo, fo, fo” could have easily turned into a meme.

Going in to the 1983 playoffs, one would have easily guessed that Magic Johnson and the Lakers, who were looking to go back-to-back, were the favorites to win again. Especially after they had beaten 76ers 4-2 in the NBA finals of 1982.

Moses however was a quietly confident guy, and he knew that he was the difference and the missing piece that the Sixers didn’t have that year.

Malone and Erving’s Sixers backed the “fo, fo, fo” claim by sweeping Bernard King’s New York Knicks in the first round. The Conference Finals brought Sidney Moncrief’s Milwaukee Bucks, who although they were able to win a game, ultimately succumbed to the same fate, getting beaten 4-1 in the series.

In the final, it was the rematch that Philly had waited for all year long. The Lakers were at the beginnings of the Showtime dynasty at this point but Pat Riley was already making a name for himself and many felt this would be his coming out party. They would have to wait for that.

That Lakers-Sixers finals is really just a feast for Sixer fans. “This is what we look like when we’re great” kinda thing.

The Lakers stars still did their thing but were neutralized somewhat. Kareem still dropped buckets but he didn’t dominate the games with Moses hounding him in the low post and out-rebounding him so much the Lakers would often crash the boards with 4 players.

That year the Sixers had 2 great scoring guards in Maurice Cheeks and Andrew Toney. Their ability to handle the ball and make shots off the dribble was absolutely crucial and gave the Sixer dominant inside scorers in Erving and Malone and outlet while presenting defenses with another option they had to guard when the Sixer offense looked like it was breaking down.

Andrew Toney would average 18.8 points and 4.2 assists in that playoff run and Maurice Cheeks would follow suit with 16.3 points and 7.0 assists per game.

The Sixers would over power the Lakers in the ‘83 finals. Moses Malone would force Kareem Abdul Jabbar to expand more energy than any opponent and where Jabbar was used to catching his breath on the defensive end, Malone would hound him when battling for rebounds and with post ups of his own.

The 1983 76ers would cap what was perhaps, the most dominant playoff run of the decade.

4. 2004 Detroit Pistons

The Detroit Pistons in 2003-04 were brought together by a series of misfortunes and most of them appear to have been the Wizard’s misfortunes.

Head coach Larry Brown had left the Philadelphia 76ers having lost the NBA finals in 2002.

Richard Hamilton had been drafted by the Washington Wizards in 1999 and had found his way to Detroit in exchange for Jerry Stackhouse.

Chauncey Billups was drafted 3rd overall by the Boston Celtics in 1997 and then played for the Raptors, Nuggets and Timberwolves before ending up in Detroit and was even considered draft bust at this point.

Ben Wallace had been drafted by the Wizards in 1996 and hadn’t been a regular starter until joining the Orlando Magic in 1999 and his most notable contribution to that organization was being part of the trade that saw Grant Hill move to Orlando.

All this along with Detroit drafting Tayshuan Prince in 2002 culminated in one of, if not, the greatest, defensive NBA team of all time. However they still weren’t the complete team yet.

The way their playoff journey ended in 2003 put that on display in painful fashion. Getting swept by the New Jersey Nets in the Eastern Conference Finals, which was actually the reason Larry Brown was brought in and Rick Carlisle was fired.

In the beginning of the 2003/04 season, the Pistons were staking their claim as contenders. Then Pistons General Manager and former Piston, Joe Dumars made the trade that saw Rasheed Wallace join the team after just one game in Atlanta.

With that they were now complete and the nucleus of a defensive juggernaut was spawned.

Their post season began with a gentleman’s sweep of Michael Redd’s Milwaukee Bucks. Then things got really interesting in the 2nd round when the Pistons matched up with a familiar foe in the previous year’s Eastern Conference champions, Jason Kidd’s Brooklyn Nets.

A tense and tight 7 game series, saw the Pistons finally get their revenge and vanquish the Nets in game 7. To add insult to injury, the Brooklyn Nets were held to just 69 points scored total, in the entire game. Worse yet, Jason Kidd had 0 points in that game 7.

What followed in that year’s Easter Conference Finals against the Pacers who were lead by Jermaine O’Neal, Ron Artest and a 38 year old, Reggie Miller. The two teams would trade wins over the first four games of the series before the Piston won a pivotal game 5 in which Rip Hamilton would drop a monster 33 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block. What happened in game 6 was one of the lowest scoring playoff games in NBA history as the Pistons closed out the series 69-65 and take a place in the NBA Finals

Low scores were becoming a staple of this particular championship run but the analysts and odd makers predicted that this Pistons team would lose to the dynasty and 3 time champion, Los Angeles Lakers.

However those Lakers did not have anywhere near the chemistry that these Piston had and the Pistons stunned the basketball world by winning game 1. Kobe Bryant and Shaquil O’neil both had big scoring games in that game with 24 and 34 points respectively but something was amiss with these Lakers.

A sense of calm appeared to be restored for the Lakers when they won game 2 by 99-91. Then the flood gates opened in game 3. A miserable night for the Lakers in which Kobe had 11 points and Shaq had just 14.

The Lakers wouldn’t win another game that series.

Their lack of chemistry laid bare for all to see as the Pistons just routinely made them take tough shots and would get easy shots because of it.

Chauncey Billups was named Finals MVP that year, after averaging 21 points, 5.2 assists and 3.2 rebounds. He made himself known as the big shot maker for this team that season ad it was rightly rewarded.

With that arguably the greatest defensive NBA team of all time had made history.

3. 1971 Milwaukee Bucks

In 1969 the Milwaukee Bucks changed the course of their franchise’s history by drafting Kareem Abdul Jabbar, then known as Lew Alcindor. They also drafted Bob “The Greyhound” Dandridge and Kareem’s UCLA running mate, point guard, Lucius Allen.

They didn’t win it all the 1970 post season, losing to the eventual champion New York Knicks in the Eastern Division finals. They fixed their weaknesses that off-season and brought in legendary point guard and the original triple-double king, Oscar Robertson.

The Milwaukee Bucks set new records in the 1970-71 season. Coached by Larry Costello, they would leap forward into the 1 seed of the Western Conference with 66 wins in the regular season and they didn’t stop there.

Larry Costello’s Milwaukee Bucks were uncompromisingly efficient in 1971. They had 7 players that finished with better than 46% in field goal percentage.

This Bucks team was so dominant that they only lost 2 games in their entire playoff run.

They handed the San Francisco Warriors a gentlemen’s sweep in the Conference semifinals before repeating the trick against Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain’s Los Angeles Lakers in the next round.

Kareem’s duel against Wilt Chamberlain in that series was the absolute stuff of legends. Wilt absolutely tested the young gun, averaging 22 points, 18.8 rebounds and 2 assists. However it was not enough. The early 1970′s were the first signs of a changing of the guard and Kareem was the face of a new generation of NBA centers. He was the first to truly out perform Wilt Chamberlain and overpower him offensively by utilizing the sky hook. Kareem would average 25 points, 17.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists.

They did not take any such mercy against Wes Unseld’s Baltimore Bullets in the finals, beating them via a 4-0 sweep to become NBA champions.

2. 2019 Toronto Raptors

This one was painful as all hell when they beat the Sixers in a game 7 but the consolation prize for me was watching Masai Ujiri, Pascal Siakam and Serge Ibaka lift a championship. Gotta take your wins where you can.

After the 2017-18 playoffs the Toronto Raptors were in a bad place

They had been eliminated via a sweep once again at the hands of LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Head coach Dwayne Casey had been fired and DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry’s performances meant that, one, if not both, would be on the trade block.

It was not an empty threat.

San Antonio Spurs star player, Kawhi Leonard had become discontented with the organization that weened him in to the league and was probably the most controversial player in the league when Toronto GM, Masai Ujiri traded DeRozan for him and worse yet, Kawhi would only have 1 year on his contract before entering free agency.

It turned out to be one of the best gambles in sports history.

It’s crazy when you think of it now but more people should have foreseen how this team had the makings to do something special.

Along with Kawhi Leonard, the Raptors also acquired shooting guard Danny Green from San Antonio. Then halfway through the season, they traded, center Jonas Valenciunas to Memphis in exchange for Marc Gasol.

Now that’s a roster featuring two former defensive players of the year in Kawhi and Marc Gasol and you’re adding Serge Ibaka, Danny Green and Kyle Lowry to that equation.

Plus Toronto General Manager, Masai Ujiri had been developing talents like Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, Fred Vanvleet and Norman Powell, who were all starting to blossom at the same time.

Their depth also allowed them to accommodate Kawhi Leonard’s eccentricities as far as managing his injuries throughout the course of the regular season, which we now know is all important if Kawhi is your best player.

The Raptors journey began with a sweep of the Orlando Magic is the first round before they faced the Philadalphia 76ers in a classic series, that ended in heartbreak for me personally.

The Jimmy Butler-led 76ers under Bret Brown, were not a well oiled machine like the Raptors but we punched above our weight enough to force a game 7 and the most heart-wrenching buzzer beater in NBA history, courtesy of Kawhi Leonard.

To prove, the Raptors were not merely lucky, they would go on to face the 1 seeded Milwaukee Bucks, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, in the Eastern Conference Finals and after going down 0-2 in the series, they would win the remaining four games.

That year, the Raptors carried the hopes of the entire NBA and many predicted that the Golden State Warriors were still the favorite in the Finals that year, despite having lost Kevin Durant to injury.

The Raptors would stun the Warriors in game 1, with Pascal Siakam’s 32 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists but the Warriors would bounce back in game 2.

Then came the two statement games of the series as the series went to Toronto and in games 3 and 4, the Raptors would bludgeon the Warriors with size and scoring at the basket. Serge Ibaka had his best game of the series in game 4 with 20 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 blocks.

The Warriors did well to hang in and win game 5 in the Scotia Bank Arena but game 6 was one of the best close out games you’ll ever watch from a team in as far as collective contributions. Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet, all scored more than 20 points to help Kawhi Leonard close out the series and win the Toronto Raptors’ first ever NBA championship.

Kawhi’s sojourn was rewarded with a Finals MVP award and more importantly, Pascal Siakam and Serge Ibaka, joined the hall of African NBA champions and Masai Ujiri, the first African general manager to build a championship team.

1. 1994-95 Houston Rockets Go Back-To-Back

Many people have discredited this team’s championship run but had it been a fluke or truly worthy of an asterisk then they wouldn’t have repeated as champions in 1995. Michael Jordan’s retirement was his own choice and I don’t think people put enough emphasis on how rare it is for a team to win back-to-back championships.

Hakeem Olajuwon’s Houston Rockets were ahead of their time in as far as how the roster was built. A low post scorer surrounded by 3-point shooters was a unique mix at the time. A pick-your-poison type of offense that made the best of it’s most potent threat.

The Rockets would enter the 1994 playoffs as a 2nd seed and overcame Clyde Drexler’s Portland Trailblazers in the first round before beating Barkley’s Phoenix Suns in the conference semi-finals and then Karl Malone’s Utah Jazz in the Conference Finals. Bear in mind those are all Michael Jordan and the Bulls finals opponents for a good stretch of the 90′s, so does discrediting this title run make any sense if you think Jordan is the greatest of all time?

The Rockets would go on to play the Patrick Ewing-led Knicks in the Finals and that game 7 would cement Hakeem Olajuwon as an all-time great center. In a grueling series, Hakeem would finish the decisive game 7 with 25 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists. Vernon Maxwell had his best game as a Rocket finishing with 21 points and 4 assists to give the Rockets their first NBA championship as a franchise.

Things got rough for the Rockets in the 1994-95 season.

These Rockets were no longer clicking on all cylinders and the hype and excitement of being champions had clearly not worn off yet.

So the brass made the decision to trade Otis Thorpe for Hakeem Olajuwon’s college buddy, Clyde Drexler. The other Rockets players bristled at this, most notably shooting guard Vernon Maxwell, who was so vexed, he would leave the team after the all-star break.

The Rockets entered the 1995 playoffs as a 6th seed and faced the mammoth task of facing John Stockton and Karl Malone’s Utah Jazz who had finished the season as the 3rd seed in the Western Conference. Hakeem would average 35 points, 8.6 rebounds and 4 assists in that series and his running mate Clyde followed suit averaging 25.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists for the series. Kenny Smith was the other big contributor in that series, he averaged 17 points on 63% in 3-point percentage.

The Rockets would then go on to play a 7-game series against Charles Barkley’s Phoenix Suns. High flying point guard, Kevin Johnson had two 40 point games in this series, the second of which was in game 7 but was in vain as the Houston Rockets would win game 7 by a single point and a final score of 115-114. Clyde Drexler and Hakeem each dropped 29 points in that game 7 but the guy that gave them the juice that night was backup point guard, Sam Cassel who dropped 18 points and 7 assists and of course Mario Elie’s “kiss of death”, the clutch shot that decided the series.

Next came the series that turned Hakeem Olajuwon from NBA great to mythical status.

San Antonio Spurs center, David Robinson was named the MVP of the 1995 season and let just say Hakeem felt otherwise. What followed was an absolute masterclass in scoring at the center position and Hakeem proceeded to put on a 6 game display of dominance against Robinson who infamously said “that as crazy as it sounds, I think I’m guarding him as well as I can”.

The Rockets would win the 1995 Western Conference finals 4-2 and the young, up and coming Orlando Magic, lead by Shaquille O’neal and Penny Hardaway awaited them in that year’s finals.

The young, upstart magic were no match for a team that was ready to raise their game to the championship level and repeat as champions. The series would end in a sweep and the Rockets would hoist the Larry O’Brien for the second year in a row.

While Shaq would hold his own against Hakeem Olajuwon, he would not stop the eventual Finals MVP in a series where Hakeem averaged 32.8 points, 11.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.

This run is why Hakeem is still widely considered the best international player in NBA history.

#nba #nba history #nba playoffs #hakeem olajuwon #julius erving #ben wallace #kareem abdul jabbar #pascal siakam #serge ibaka #moses malone #rasheed wallace #chauncey billups #rip hamilton #kawhi leonard