The Philadelphia 76ers had been winning ugly all season, which even got them to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on May 26 against the Boston Celtics. Sixers fans like myself were as ill-equipped to explain their success as anyone else, given their lack of a superstar and occasional lack of scoring in general. But the best way to explain it is that the Sixers had been disciplined and did not beat themselves, which is how they hung around to win so much.

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