Iverson Shows Orlando Some Magic

After Allen Iverson saved the Philadelphia 76ers, the little guy couldn’t keep his emotions inside any more. He took three giant steps toward center court, waved to the crowd and exited to an enormous ovation.

Watching from high atop the First Union Center, Julius Erving had to admit he was a little jealous.

“The fans out there were absolutely going crazy,” said Erving, who helped the 76ers win their last NBA title in 1983. “You got people with wigs on and taking their shirts off. I was looking around, and I was like, “Is this a basketball game?’ ”

Iverson scored 37 points and helped rescue the 76ers after they blew an 18-point, second-half lead as Philadelphia eliminated the Orlando Magic with a 101-91 victory in Game 4 of their first-round series Saturday.

From the sparkling play of Iverson, Eric Snow (20 points) and rookie Larry Hughes (14 points) to the frenetic atmosphere in a building that has become uniquely Iverson’s, it was clear that basketball is back in the town once ruled by Dr. J.

The 76ers, in the playoffs for the first time since 1991, will give this playoff-starved city and its frenzied fans at least another series, a second-round matchup with the Indiana Pacers beginning Monday.

“The joint was jumping, the place was rocking,” said Erving, now the executive vice president of the Magic. “I really felt this genuine outpouring of, ‘We waited a long time for this, now we’re really going to let it out.’ They’re not holding back. It’s totally uninhibited.”

With the 76ers in the playoffs for the first time since 1991, their fans took it out on Penny Hardaway.

The Magic star, who may have played his last game with Orlando, lived up to his promise to shoot more. Booed and cajoled by the crowd and public address announcer, he was only three for 17 for 17 points and missed his first nine shots.

“I just missed my shots,” Hardaway said. “I wasn’t making anything. No excuse.”

Hardaway finally made a basket, a three-pointer with 3:47 left in the third, during an incredible rally that saw the Magic erase a 64-46 deficit to tie it at 79-all.

But the inexperienced 76ers passed their biggest test to date, sending the Magic home to an uncertain off-season.

Iverson settled his team and made a clutch floating jumper with 45 seconds left to give Philadelphia a 95-89 lead. That followed another high-flying dunk by Hughes, the 20-year-old rookie, making it 93-86.

“It feels great,” said Iverson, decked out in his usual assortment of jewelry and using the Yankees for his cap du jour. “It’s still hitting me now at this moment. It’s something I’ve been waiting a long time for, and to finally get it is special.”

Philadelphia Coach Larry Brown, the only coach to lead six teams to the playoffs, will face one of his former teams beginning Monday in Indianapolis.

Nick Anderson led the Magic with 29 points.