Sixers playoff flashback: ‘The Boston Strangler,’ Andrew Toney, strikes

With the NBA playoffs on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic, here are some memorable 76ers playoff games dating to when they moved from Syracuse before the 1963-64 season. Is your favorite missing? Send feedback to Marc Narducci at mnarducci@inquirer.com.

Ninth of 12 parts.

Andrew Toney’s end as a player came way too soon. Persistent ankle and foot problems limited him to five healthy NBA seasons. His career was over before he turned 31.

In his brief time, Toney was a fearless gunslinger and a two-time All-Star.

Most of all, he loved playing against the Boston Celtics. Toney became known as “The Boston Strangler,” a moniker he earned especially for his postseason play.

During his career, Toney averaged 17.4 points per game in the playoffs. Against the Celtics, the playoff average was 19.8.

His reputation as a Celtics killer began to take shape in the 1981-82 season, his second in the NBA after being selected No. 8 overall out of Louisiana-Lafayette in the 1980 draft.

The Sixers found themselves in a dire situation when they traveled to Boston for Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals on May 23, 1982.

For the second year in a row, the Sixers had squandered a 3-1 series lead and had to face a Game 7 in one of the most difficult places to play, Boston Garden.

“I hated that place,” then-Sixers general manager Pat Williams said in a recent interview. “I hated everything about it, hated the feel of it, the smell of it, hated the fans, I just hated it.”

On this day, there would be no hate, and one of the main reasons was Andrew Toney.

To backtrack, in the 1981 Eastern Conference finals, Toney, a rookie, scored eight points off the bench and shot 4-for-9 in the Sixers’ 91-90 Game 7 loss at Boston.

As a rookie, he was prone to up-and-down performances. Even in that 1981 series, his Celtics-killer tendencies were on display when he scored 26 points in Game 1 and 35 in Game 2. After that, his play didn’t match those opening two games.

In 1982, he saved his best for last. Throughout the series, Toney had been a major headache, with the exception of Game 6. There, he inexplicably shot just 1-for-11 and scored three points in the Sixers’ 88-75 loss at the Spectrum.

For Game 7, the true Toney, the Celtics-slaying Toney, showed up.

With the Sixers facing the prospect of losing a series after blowing a 3-1 lead for the second season in a row, Toney scored 34 points and Julius Erving added 29 as the Sixers buried their recent Celtics demons with a 120-106 victory and advanced to the NBA Finals.

The Sixers went on to lose in six games to the Los Angeles Lakers, but the win over Boston, when few gave them a chance, was a monumental one in team history.

And the Sixers can thank Andrew Toney. In this game, he played a team-high 43 minutes and shot 14-for-23 from the field and 6-for-8 from the foul line.

“Everything he did that game, he couldn’t miss,” then-Sixers coach Billy Cunningham said recently.

Williams said that game showed Toney’s unlimited potential.

“Andrew Toney would be in the Hall of Fame had it not been for those feet and ankle injuries that gave him so much trouble,” Williams said. “His career was basically over at 27. He was unbelievable that Game 7.”

Sixers forward Bobby Jones, who scored 17 points that game, knew the frustration the Celtics felt when having to defend Toney.

“I do remember, so many times he would be on the wing and take one or two dribbles and pull up with a guy hanging all over him,” Jones said in a recent interview.

“He was like [Milwaukee’s] Sidney Moncrief. He was so bony and strong and you would always end up getting hurt if you got too close to him, so I could imagine how the Celtics felt when he was torching them.”

Cunningham, who said that he still stays in contact with Toney, agreed with Williams’ assessment.

“It is a shame that his feet were killing him and in this day and age they would have been able to resolve it,” Cunningham said. “He would have been in the Hall of Fame. He and Maurice [Cheeks] were starting to grow together.”

In the win over the Celtics, Cheeks had 19 points and 11 assists, amplifying Cunningham’s point.

Another player who made an impact in Game 7 was Mike Bantom. The former St. Joseph’s University star and Olympian had just two points and six rebounds in 19 minutes, but his biggest contribution came before the game.

“After Game 6, we had a team meeting about everything, just the players, and Mike Bantom made a comment. He said one of the problems is that I don’t think the Celtics respect us physically,” Jones recalls. “He said we are just not physical enough with those guys.”

That was enough for Jones and his teammates.

“We made a decision going into Game 7 that we were going to do whatever it takes,” Jones said. “My attitude was to be as physical as can be.”

Jones said that early in the game he made a physical play and wasn’t called for a foul. That set the tone.

“I remember one of the first plays of that game, they are on offense and I was boxing out [Kevin] McHale and I actually rode him into the front row and the ref is right there looking and doesn’t say a thing,” Jones said. “I thought, this is the way it is and to just play that way.”

Larry Bird, the Celtics’ third-year All-Star, had 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 9 assists, but he shot just 7-for-18 from the field.

Boston had no answers this time.

For Cunninghan, it was a chance to make good on a pregame vow to his players. Entering the game, the Sixers were receiving plenty of criticism in the press, and Cunningham said he’d had enough of it.

“I remember telling the players that what I would love to do [after the game] is walk into the press room after we won, and say, ‘It was a great game, the Celtics were wonderful and we won, goodbye,' " Cunningham said. “After [meeting with the press], I walked into the locker room and Bobby Jones said, ‘Did you do it?' and I said, ‘Yes’ and he gave me a high-five.”

It was such a hard-earned and unexpected victory that even the despised Celtics fans gave the Sixers a respectful sendoff.

“I remember that those Celtics fans, who were so hated, started chanting ‘Beat L.A.' What a gesture," Williams said. “We were going to the Finals and that was one of the great moments of sportsmanship in that heated rivalry."