Philadelphia 76ers vs San Antonio Spurs

The rivalry between the Philadelphia 76ers and the San Antonio Spurs goes back to the early days of the NBA when both teams were dominating the league. The Sixers won the first-ever NBA Championship in 1954 and won again in 1967, making them one of just two teams in NBA history to win back-to-back championships (the Boston Celtics were the other). The Spurs were formed in 1967 as an expansion team, and after losing many years, they drafted Tim Duncan #1 overall in 1997 who helped to turn their franchise around.

Founded in 1967, the Sixers have won 3 NBA championships since their inception. The Spurs, on the other hand, were founded five years later in 1972, but haven’t been as successful. Yet there is a long history between these two teams. With both teams being in different conferences for most of their history, they only met nine times before 2001.

Throughout their history, these two teams have met in the playoffs on seven occasions with each team winning three of those matchups. The first meeting was in 1977 when the Sixers were led by Dr. J and had just come off of a championship season. The Sixers would go on to win this series in six games thanks to a buzzer-beater from Bobby Jones in Game 6. In 1978, it was the same story with Dr. J leading this time, but this time it took eight games for them to take down the Spurs for their second consecutive matchup win that year.

Wilt Chamberlain, Charles Barkley, Moses Malone, Julius Erving. These are just a few of the legends who have played for Philly against the Spurs. One of these players is even from Texas: Greg Hot Rod Anderson. Anderson pitched for both teams during his career and was inducted into both club’s halls of fame.
Tim Duncan, one of the most famous players in Spur’s history, played against the Sixers five times. In those five games, he averaged 21.4 points per game on 50% shooting from the field and 90% shooting from the free throw line. He also had 7.2 rebounds per game and 3.6 assists per game in these matchups against Philadelphia.
Tony Parker, another well-known player in Spurs’ history, played against them six times over his career.

NAME: Philadelphia 76ers vs San Antonio Spurs
DATE: Feb 4, 2023
TIME: 1:00:00 AM UTC.
VENUE: AT&T Center.