76ers Leave Empty-Handed as Another Rally Falls Short

Appropriately enough, Allen Iverson’s long night ended with a short shot.

Iverson shot an airball from three-point range just before the final buzzer Wednesday night as the Philadelphia 76ers staged another desperate, final-minute rally that wasn’t quite enough.

No victory to take back to Philadelphia, just another disappointing loss, 85-82, and a 2-0 deficit against the Indiana Pacers in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series.

“I thought I would save the day, but I couldn’t,” Iverson said, summing up both his last shot and his seven-for-28 shooting. “It was just one of those nights. I tried to bring it. But I just couldn’t bring my ‘A’ game.”

Aside from the performances of Iverson and Rik Smits, the game was much like Monday’s Game 1.

The 76ers, who came back from a 13-point deficit in Game 1 and lost by two, rallied from 17 down to within two in the final quarter thanks to younger legs, an aggressive defense and some poor free throw shooting by the Pacers in the stretch.

A missed foul shot by Jalen Rose with 12 seconds to play gave the 76ers their final opportunity to tie the score.

Out of timeouts and inbounding under their own basket, the 76ers got the ball into Iverson’s hands over midcourt, but he passed it to Hughes and the rookie’s jumper was long. Matt Geiger tipped the ball back out, and all Iverson could do was manage an awkward, off-target attempt as the buzzer sounded.

“I thought Larry’s shot was going in, it was right on line and then I didn’t have time to set up,” Iverson said. “The clock was running out and so I just threw it it up there.”

Said Indiana’s Reggie Miller, who scored 17 points: “We’re making them very interesting in the end. They are hanging in and making plays down the stretch and it’s coming down to our free throws.

“We tried to force Allen into situations he’s not really comfortable with. He just missed a lot of easy shots. At the end he was a little off-balance. He didn’t have much time and it was more of a desperation shot.”

Indiana’s Rik Smits finally found his offense for the Pacers, scoring 25 points. Iverson led the 76ers with 23, 13 in the fourth quarter.

“It’s pretty disturbing that we blew big leads two games in a row,” Smits said. “We seem to play well in the first half and somehow the tone changes and we’re able to let things slip away.”

Iverson, who scored 35 in Game 1 and entered Game 2 averaging 29.6 points in the playoffs, had trouble with his shot all night no matter how quickly he raced around picks to get open.

“I’ve gotten the praise when we play well, I’ll take the criticism when we play badly,” he said. “We can beat this team.”