Top 10 Philly vs. Boston sports moments: Harden’s three may prove to be immortal just like these

In a week, James Harden’s three-pointer in Game 1 of the 76ers’ Eastern Conference semifinal series against Boston could be near the top of this list. Or it could become just a great shot in another series lost to the Celtics. That’s the thing about sports. The Philly Special is just a neat gadget play if the Eagles don’t win the Super Bowl. Now, it’s immortal. If the Sixers finally advance past Boston, Harden’s three will be an all-time Philly sports moment. Until we know how much that shot meant, here’s a look at Philly sports’ top 10 moments against Boston.

A regular-season game in June from a season when the Phillies missed the playoffs? Let me explain. Jim Thome hit two game-tying, two-out home runs (one in the eighth inning and again in the 11th) after Pedro Martinez shut down the Phils for seven innings. The Red Sox scored twice in the 13th before the Phillies scored three times in the bottom of the inning as Todd Pratt delivered a pinch-hit, walk-off homer for a 6-5 victory. Yes, a regular-season game in 2003. But it was epic. We’ll never forget Pratt stumbling between first and second base as he pumped his fist at the Vet.

Ahead 14-0, Patriots coach Bill Belichick tried to catch the Eagles off guard in 2015 with a trick-play dropkick. It failed as the Eagles rattled off 35 straight points, and delivered the final signature moment of the Chip Kelly Era. Sam Bradford threw two TD passes, Kenjon Barner had nine carries, Jordan Matthews caught a touchdown, and the Eagles were somehow two seasons from a Super Bowl. The 2015 Eagles won just seven games and Kelly was fired before the season finale. But they did give us this great moment in a 35-28 win. Thanks, Belichick.

The Union finished 2020 with the MLS’ best record, which finally earned them their first trophy as they were awarded the league’s Supporters Shield. And it was a 2-0 win at home over the New England Revolution that secured the hardware. There was just one problem. The actual trophy didn’t make it to Chester in time so the Union players were awarded a Captain America shield with a vinyl image of the Supporters Shield glued on top. A little Philly ingenuity.

Julius Erving and Larry Bird were friends, wore the same sneakers, and helped make a video game together. But on the court? They were rivals, intense enough that they fought on Nov. 9,1984, at the Boston Garden. They got tied up, scuffled, and then Dr. J fired off a few punches as both teams mobbed the stars. The teams played again a month later and the hard feelings were gone. Erving went to Boston’s locker room before the game and the two shook hands at center court before tip-off. “To me, it was over the night it happened,” Bird said.

» READ MORE: ‘The right to miss’: How Dr. J changed video-game history and paved the way for Madden

Andrew Toney is the Sixers’ best known “Boston Strangler,” but World B. Free earned that nickname first by coming off the bench to knock off the Celtics, 83-77, at the Spectrum in Game 7 of the 1977 Eastern Conference semifinals. Free, then a second-year guard, scored 27 points to keep the Sixers marching toward the NBA Finals in Dr. J’s first season in Philly. Free, like Toney, always seemed to save his best for Boston.

» READ MORE: Before Sixers-Celtics, World B. Free wants you to know he was the Sixers’ first ‘Boston Strangler’

Andrew Toney would have been the fifth member of the 1983 Sixers to reach the Hall of Fame if foot injuries didn’t shorten his career to just eight seasons. He’s not immortalized in Springfield, Mass., but they’ll never forget about Toney 90 miles east in Boston. Toney scored 34 points in Game 7 of the 1982 Eastern Conference finals at the Boston Garden after scoring 30 in Game 2 and 39 in Game 4. A year later, Toney and the Sixers were world champions.

Before the Sixers could win their first championship, Wilt Chamberlain had to finally get past Bill Russell. Chamberlain had faced his adversary five times in the postseason, with Boston winning each series. Things finally changed in 1967 as Chamberlain finished Russell’s Celtics in just five games in the Eastern Division finals. Chamberlain grabbed 32 rebounds in Game 1, 41 in Game 3, and 36 in the clincher, a 140-116 rout. The Sixers won the championship two weeks later by knocking off the San Francisco Warriors in six games.

The Flyers did the improbable by forcing a Game 7 in the 2010 Eastern Conference semifinals after dropping the first three games of the series. But their magic seemed to be running out after the Bruins scored three times in the first 14 minutes of Game 7 in Boston. Flyers coach Peter Laviolette called a timeout, steadied his team, and the rest is history. Boston did not score again as the Flyers tied it on goals from James van Riemsdyk, Scott Hartnell, and Danny Briere before Simon Gagne scored the go-ahead goal with seven minutes left. They erased a 3-0 deficit in the series and a 3-0 deficit in Game 7.

Rick MacLeish’s deflection of Andre Dupont’s slap shot gave the Flyers the only goal they needed to win their first Stanley Cup as Bernie Parent stopped all 30 shots he faced in Game 6 of the 1974 Final against the Bruins. Parent, an original Flyer, returned to the team before that season and won both the Conn Smythe and Vezina trophies. Hockey was still a foreign subject to Philadelphia as the Flyers had arrived only seven years earlier. But the city was crazy for the Flyers and an estimated 2 million fans flocked to Broad Street for the parade. The Flyers reacquired Parent by trading goalie Doug Favell to Toronto. They won the Cup at the Spectrum on a Sunday afternoon and cleared the arena so the Philadelphia Wings could play their first game that night in a new lacrosse league. And one of the Wings’ best players? Favell.

Brandon Graham’s strip sack, Zach Ertz’s catch on fourth-and-1, Malcolm Jenkins laying out Brandin Cooks, Alshon Jeffery’s TD catch, Nick Foles’ dime to Corey Clement, Ertz’s lunge into the end zone, and on and on. Super Bowl LII gave us a laundry list of iconic moments, but only one has a statue, so we have to give the nod to the Philly Special. Against one of football’s all-time dynasties in the Patriots, the Eagles decided to have a tight end throw a pass to their QB on fourth-and-goal. It worked and we’ll never forget it. It’s just a bit easier to watch now that our stomachs aren’t in knots.

» READ MORE: Trey Burton threw the Philly Special and then overcame the anxiety that followed