Game 1 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, playing on a mission and finally with an effective supporting cast around him, scored 33 points, pulled down 14 rebounds, and had six blocks and five assists on the way to a 109–102 win in the Forum.
Norm Nixon had 23 points and
Jamaal Wilkes finished with 20 while the Lakers did an excellent job double-teaming
Julius Erving. Rookie
Magic Johnson contributed 16 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds.
Game 2 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar continued to dominate, with 38 points in Game 2. But, this time, he got very little help as the Laker break never got going.
Julius Erving scored 12 points in the first quarter on his way to 23, beginning the game with a dunk over Abdul-Jabbar.
Maurice Cheeks matched Erving's total of 23 points, while
Bobby Jones added 13 off the bench. The key was
Darryl Dawkins, who had one of his best games of the season by scoring 25 points, many of them on outside shots trying to draw Abdul-Jabbar away from the basket. The Sixers led by as much as 20 in the fourth period, but the Lakers roared back, trimming the lead to 105–104 late in the game. Then, Jones popped in a jumper with seven seconds left, and that was enough for a 107–104 Philly win that tied the series at a game apiece.
Game 3 With a split in L.A., the Sixers were hoping to take command of the series with the next two games in Philadelphia. The Lakers, however, ended those hopes by taking a 15-point lead in the first quarter.
Julius Erving led a short comeback in the second, but a 9–0 run by the Lakers extended their lead to 14 at the half.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar once again had a big game with 33 points, 14 rebounds, four blocks and three assists as the Lakers cruised to a 111–101 win. Julius Erving scored the only three-pointer of the series (and first in NBA Finals history) in this game.
Game 4 This game was a nip-and-tuck affair that was highlighted by
Julius Erving's signature "Baseline Move" in the fourth quarter. The Sixers went on to even the series with a 105–102 win.
Darryl Dawkins led the Sixers with 26 points and Erving added 23.
Game 5 Back at the
Forum, the Lakers held a two-point lead late in the third quarter when
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar stepped on
Lionel Hollins' foot as he was running upcourt after a Laker basket and twisted his ankle. At that point, Kareem had scored 26 points and was carrying the Lakers, but now he was in the locker room.
Magic Johnson then asserted himself by scoring six points and added an assist as Los Angeles moved up by eight at the end of the third. Abdul-Jabbar then limped back onto the floor. His appearance aroused the Forum regulars and, despite the bad ankle, scored 11 points and had two key blocked shots down the stretch. The Sixers, however, had
Julius Erving who scored 11 of the Sixers last 13 points to complete an 8-point comeback, and tie the game at 103–103 with only 43 seconds remaining. On the Lakers possession,
Darryl Dawkins was trying to front Abdul-Jabbar but to no avail as Magic threw a pass overhead so only Erving stood between Kareem and the basket. Abdul-Jabbar, bad ankle and all, dunked emphatically over Erving and drew the foul with 33 seconds left. He converted the 3-point play to take a 106–103 lead. After a timeout, the Sixers put the ball in the hands of Erving, who tried a spectacular, scooping finger-roll, but missed. Magic got the rebound to seemingly seal the win, but the Lakers tried to force the fast-break and ended up turning the ball over, out-of-bounds. However, the Sixers turned the ball right back over by stepping out of bounds on a desperation 3-point attempt. Norm Nixon would finally seal the game at the foul line by making both of his foul shots. The victory gave the Lakers the crucial 3–2 series lead heading back to Philadelphia.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 14 point 4th quarter on a bad ankle capped an overall 40-point performance. After Game 5 Abdul-Jabbar was averaging 33.4 points per game as compared to eventual MVP
Magic Johnson's 17.4.
Game 6 The Lakers' team doctors declared Abdul-Jabbar and his bad ankle unfit for Game 6 (he wasn't even allowed to make the trip to Philadelphia with the team because of the swelling), so Laker coach
Paul Westhead made a bold move by asking
Magic Johnson to jump center. Johnson had no problem and was up to the challenge, although he would lose the famous opening tip to
Caldwell Jones. Early on, the Sixers seemed unsure how to counter the matchup problem. The Lakers went up 7–0, then 11–4. Finally, the Sixers used their newfound size advantage in the second quarter to take a 52–44 lead. The Lakers countered by collapsing more in the paint and rallied for a 60–60 tie at the half. Los Angeles opened the third period with a 14–0 run, keyed by
Jamaal Wilkes, who had 16 points in the quarter. In the fourth with a little over five minutes left, the Sixers rallied to cut the Laker lead to 103–101. After a timeout, the Lakers went on one last run, with Magic scoring nine points down the stretch on the way to a final 123–107 margin. Wilkes had a career-high 37 points and added 10 rebounds.
Jim Chones effectively shut down the middle in place of Abdul-Jabbar and finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and held
Darryl Dawkins to 14 points and a scant four rebounds.
Michael Cooper, in a rare start, scored 16 points, and
Mark Landsberger contributed 10 boards. Magic Johnson scored 42 points, including all 14 of his free-throw attempts. He added 15 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and a block and was elected MVP of the series. "It was amazing, just amazing", said Erving, who led Philly with 27 points. ==Player statistics==