Minnesota Muskies 57-25 (3-3)

Philadelphia Fire 56-26 (3-3)

Score (click for boxscore)	Game MVP	Hi Points	Hi Rebounds	Hi Assists
1. Fire 110, Muskies 92	Dominique Wilkins	26 Wilkins/Vandeweghe/A-Jabbar	10 Larry Nance	8 John Lucas
2. Fire 118, Muskies 105	Larry Nance	33 Larry Nance	11 Robert Parish	12 Darrell Walker
3. Muskies 106, Fire 89	Robert Parish	27 Robert Parish	19 Robert Parish	7 Darrell Walker
4. Muskies 110, Fire 105	Kiki Vandeweghe	38 Dominique Wilkins	11 Charles Barkley	9 Darrell Walker
5. Muskies 121, Fire 114	Kiki Vandeweghe	38 Kiki Vandeweghe	11 Robert Parish	17 John Lucas
6. Fire 127, Muskies 125	Dominique Wilkins	35 Kiki Vandeweghe	14 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	12 John Lucas
7. Muskies 119, Fire 117	Kiki Vandeweghe	40 Kiki Vandeweghe	14 C.Barkley/B.Walton	10 John Lucas

Game 1 – The Defending Champion Philadelphia Fire jumped out to an early lead and never trailed for the duration. Sir Charles got into early foul trouble and wasn’t a factor. Dominique Wilkins(26 pts, 7 stl), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar(26 pts, 7 reb) and Larry Nance(20 pts, 10 reb) controlled the game. Kiki Vandeweghe scored 26 for Minnesota. Philly wins 110-92.

Game 2 – The Muskies came out with a vengeance, piling up a 12-point lead by the end of the first quarter. They maintained the status quo in the second, going into the locker room up 11 at the half. The dormant Fire exploded in the second half, scorching the Muskies 69-45. The Fire takes game two 118-105. Larry Nance was named game MVP with 33 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks. Dominique Wilkins added 27 points and Calvin Natt 26 in 20 minutes off the bench. Robert Parish had 20 points and 11 rebounds to top Minnesota. Sir Charles scored 19 points and had 11 boards for the home team.

Game 3 – Minnesota made a few strategy adjustments and they paid dividends. Philadelphia led 1-0 and never regained the lead. Minnesota goes on to win comfortably 106-89 by holding Philadelphia to 36-93 shooting and outrebounding them 54-37. Robert Parish was game MVP with 27 pts, 19 rbs, 5 blks; Kiki Vandeweghe had 26 pts, 3 asts; Craig Hodges 17 pts, 4-6 3pt; Charles Barkley 9 pts, 13 rbs; Larry Nance 21 pts, 18 rbs, 3 blks; Dominique 16 pts; and Darrell Walker 11 pts, 7 asts.

Game 4 – It was a very close game. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Larry Nance were in foul trouble for most of the game and that saved the Muskies. Philadelphia almost came back at the end, but it was nice to have Danny Ainge getting fouled with his 90% Free Throw accuracy. Final score: Minnesota 110, Philadelphia 105. Kiki Vandeweghe led the Muskies with 27 points. Charles Barkley added 17 points and 11 rebounds. Robert Parish was good for 18 points and Ainge 14. Dominique led all scorers with 38. Calvin Natt scored 16 and Kareem was held to 11. The series is tied 2-2.

Game 5 – The Home Court Curse Was Finally Broken.  The lead went back and forth in the first half, neither the Muskies nor the Fire could establish a commanding lead. Dominique Wilkins hit a 3 with 6 seconds left in the half to put the Fire up 61-60. Early in the second half a dark cloud enveloped the Fire, with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Dominique getting banged up and sent to the lockers. Kareem never returned, while Dominique was back on the floor at the beginning of the 4th. It didn’t matter as Kiki Vandeweghe sizzled, scoring 38 points (17 in the 3rd). John Lucas dished out 17 assists. Wilkins paced Philly scorers with 27. Minnesota is now up 3 to 2 will try to wrap the series up at Philly in Game 6.

Game 6 – The Philadelphia Fire held a 125-112 lead with 1:50 left in the game.  Minnesota scored the next 13 points to tie it at 125, including the final 3 points on a Vandeweghe three-point play that sent Dominique Wilkins to the bench with 6 fouls and 13 seconds left in the game. Philadelphia then worked a play to get the Big Fella the ball in the paint. With 1.6 seconds left in the game, Kareem nailed the game deciding shot and still had something left to block the Muskies final shot. Game 7 will be in Minnesota next week. Game MVP Dominique Wilkins had 28 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 steals. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar finished with 19 points, 14 boards and 5 blocks. Darrell Walker(11), Mike Woodson(13), Calvin Natt(12), Larry Nance(10) and Turpin(10 pts, 10 reb) were all in double figures. For the Muskies, Kiki Vandeweghe tallied 35 points and 6 boards. Charles Barkley had 19 points and 8 rebounds.  John Lucas had 12 assists and 11 points. 

Game 7 – Philadelphia visited The Barn this evening to face the Minnesota Muskies in a deciding game 7 match up. From the tip, Philadelphia and Dominique Wilkins dominated the game through 3 quarters. After one, Philly led 37-23 and they extended the lead to 18 points at halftime to take a commanding 65-47 advantage into the locker room. Wilkins led all scores with 19.  Despite a halftime tirade by Charles Barkley, Minnesota opened the 3rd quarter flat, as they saw Philly’s lead continue to grow. With 2 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, Philly held a commanding 20 point lead. The Muskies managed to close out the 3rd quarter on a 9-2 run cutting the lead to 13 points after 3Q. Minnesota opened the 4th quarter on an 8-0 run and finally pulled even at 98-98 with 7 minutes left. The team traded a few baskets but with 3 minutes left in the game, Philly held a 4-point lead, 111-107. Vandeweghe hit an inside floater to cut it to 2 points, Nance answered going 1-2 from the line. Ricky Green then hit a jumper to cut it to one, but Nance answered hitting 1-2 from the line again. Minnesota got back-to-back buckets from Robert Parish and Vandeweghe to take a 2-point lead. Not to be outdone, Kareem threw down a violent dunk and after a stop, Larry Nance managed to hit both free throws to give Philly a 2-point lead with one minute to go … Kiki Vandeweghe answered with a a bucket, his 40th point of the game, with 40 seconds left. After a solid defensive possession, Danny Ainge nailed a 20 footer (his only points of the game) with 13 seconds left in the game putting the Muskies up by 2. Philly dumped the ball into Kareem … his sky hook fell off the mark … Dominique climbed the ladder with 5 seconds left but was unable to nail the game tying shot. Minnesota survives 119-117 in a classic game 7. For Minnesota: Kiki Vandeweghe 40 points, Robert Parish 29 points, Bill Walton 11 points and 14 boards and Barkley 8 points and 14 boards. For Philadelphia: Dominique 37 points and 13 boards, Kareem 17 points, Nance 16 points and Mike Woodson with 16 points. Series MVP: Kiki Vandeweghe’s 40 point performance in game 7 and averaged 29.9 points a game shooting 59% from the field and 89% from the line. Congratulations to Steve Richmond and his defending champion Philadelphia Fire on another fine season.