The Iverson Show Overwhelms Magic

Allen Iverson was still standing for this one. With NBA playoff records for steals and perhaps showboating, there was no way the Orlando Magic could miss him.

Iverson had 33 points and 10 steals, standing up to the Magic’s physical play and even showing up Chuck Daly as Philadelphia defeated Orlando, 97-85, Thursday night in the 76ers’ first home playoff game in eight years.

The 76ers more than matched the Magic’s retro-Bad Boy play from Game 2, thoroughly outmuscling and demoralizing Orlando to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series.

About the only one in the sold-out building who wasn’t celebrating was 76er Coach Larry Brown, who wasn’t pleased with his players’ emotional outbursts, which the Magic could use as motivation when it faces elimination Saturday.

“You need three games to move on,” Brown said. “They just have to win one game here and they have the home court back. I wish it was like the NCAA’s, one and done.”

The Magic, who committed 27 turnovers, have a long way to come back from this beating. They trailed by as many as 23 points and sank into disarray with Penny Hardaway complaining again that Daly isn’t getting him enough shots.

Hardaway, the often-disgruntled Orlando star, had 18 points but got only 12 shots--two in the first half.

“I could’ve gotten more touches, but the plays really weren’t designed for me,” Hardaway said. “I’m not knocking the coach’s decisions, and the turnovers hurt. But I need a lot more than two shots.

“I don’t think we can win if I don’t get more than two shots. If we run some plays and get me more shots, I think we’d be better. I have to put it up 20-25 times.”

Larry Hughes, a 20-year-old rookie, came off the bench for 13 points. Eric Snow, who passed to Hughes for two dunks that finished off the Magic, had 13 points to help ease the crush of Orlando’s double-teams that limited Iverson to 13 points in Game 2.

Iverson had five assists, five rebounds and only two turnovers. He showed his excitement by alternately waving to the crowd and holding a hand by his ear to get them to cheer louder.

“I was so excited that even when I was just standing there I wanted to be moving,” said Iverson, whose 10 steals surpassed the previous playoff record of eight, last accomplished by Atlanta’s Mookie Blaylock. “Even during the timeouts, I just couldn’t stand still.”

After the 76ers promised to respond to hard hits on Iverson in Game 2, 7-foot-1 Matt Geiger did so right away. He actually had to wrestle the ball away from Daly during an early skirmish in front of the Magic bench.

After Darrell Armstrong lost the ball out of bounds, the 68-year-old Daly and 248-pound Geiger wrestled for it. Geiger won, and both laughed it off as a friendly tussle.

“He wanted the ball, and I wanted the ball,” Daly said. “I thought it was kind of cute. It’s probably the only time all night that I smiled.”

He certainly wasn’t smiling when the 76ers took their biggest lead, 64-41, during a dizzying, dunk-filled flurry.

Nick Anderson scored 23 for the Magic, which got as close as 11 on Hardaway’s three-point basket with 1:26 left. But Armstrong had nine turnovers and Hardaway committed five.