Digging In Their Heels

Dikembe Mutombo guarantees victory for the Philadelphia 76ers. Scott Williams of the Milwaukee Bucks is suspended for Game 7.

Raise your hand if you don’t want this NBA Eastern Conference finals series between the 76ers and Bucks to end.

It’s been fun--nasty, astounding, mean-spirited, high-spirited, pushing, shoving, elbowing, body slamming fun.

During Friday’s 110-100 series-evening victory by the Bucks, everything this series was about was on display.

The individual brilliance of Milwaukee’s Ray Allen (41 points, nine three-point baskets, 19 points in a row for his team) and Philadelphia’s Allen Iverson (46 points, 26 in the fourth quarter, seven points in 14 seconds).

The desperately macho physical play of the Bucks. Williams leveled Iverson early in the first quarter with a high elbow placed to Iverson’s shoulder and chin. Iverson dropped to the floor and a flagrant foul was called. But NBA vice president Stu Jackson said Saturday that after a review of the hit, it was determined to be a “flagrant foul, penalty 2” and an automatic suspension.

The suspension of Williams, who scored 10 of Milwaukee’s first 14 points Friday, guarantees that Buck fans will continue to believe there is a conspiracy of the high and mighty Commissioner David Stern and his evil NBC friends to make sure MVP Iverson and the bigger-market 76ers make it into the NBA finals. Milwaukee Coach George Karl, Allen, Sam Cassell and Glenn Robinson have all said they think so.

And all this for a dubious prize--a chance to play the mighty, playoff-undefeated Lakers in the finals.

But that’s what the battered, physically bruised, emotionally exhausted winner of Game 7 will get. The chance to fly to Los Angeles and introduce themselves to the Lakers, who have been watching--what?

* Iverson and Allen looking both individually brilliant and confoundingly awful but always worthy of being NBA all-stars and most definitely team leaders.

* Regal 76er center Mutombo making promises and hook shots, wisely tipping rebounds to his teammates when he couldn’t catch them and wisely not wiggling his finger when he was blocking shots and surprisingly averaging 15.5 points along with the expected 15 rebounds in this series.

“We’re going to win [today] because I know A.I. [Iverson] is going to come out, our house is going to be full with our fans cheering for us and, myself, I’m not pleased with the way I played [Friday].”

If you’re counting, Mutombo guaranteed a 76er win over Toronto in Game 7 of the conference semifinals (Philadelphia won by a point) and another victory in Game 6 Friday.

* The Bucks whining, whimpering, howling over the officiating, while gathering four flagrant fouls and eight technicals in the series. Stern and Co. indicated Friday they were tired of the conspiracy accusations and that fines might be levied Monday.

* Most of all, the Lakers have seen two teams playing as hard as physically possible, and sometimes harder than it seemed physically possible.

Allen still has teeth marks in his elbow, the one which found Iverson’s mouth in Game 4, knocking Iverson’s tooth loose. Iverson has the loose tooth and a badly bruised hip and tailbone, which became so painful he sat out Game 3.

Philadelphia guard Eric Snow, hours after finding out he has a new fracture around the pin in his right ankle that was helping another fracture heal, scored 18 points, including the game-winning basket, in Game 5.

Milwaukee’s Robinson will have surgery to remove bone chips from his ankle after the season. Cassell is wearing a flak jacket to protect sore ribs. Mutombo has a broken pinkie finger. Philadelphia’s Tyrone Hill has faced the anguish of being away from his seriously ill father.

Whichever team the Lakers face Wednesday, it will be a team whose heart and effort can’t be questioned but it will also be a team with maybe not much left, a team just happy to be Eastern Conference champions.

These teams were forced to Game 7s in the conference semifinals and have played every other day since. There has not been a blowout, a game in which either team could rest its key players.

While there has developed between the teams a certain animosity, Karl said there is something more. “There’s distaste,” Karl said, “but there’s respect too. We’re tired of playing each other, there’s anger, there’s things you remember. We think we’re better, they think they’re better but there’s also a healthy amount of respect. Both teams will make adjustments in Game 7. Both teams will play hard.”

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Seventh Haven

No visiting team has won a Game 7 in the conference finals since the Philadelphia 76ers defeated Boston in 1982. Game 7 of conference finals since 1980 (W=Western Conference; E=E Conference):

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YEAR C RESULT 2000 W at Lakers 89, Portland 84 1998 E at Chicago 88, Indiana 83 1996 W at Seattle 90, Utah 86 1995 E at Orlando 105, Indiana 81 1994 E at New York 94, Indiana 90 1993 W at Phoenix 123, Seattle 110 1990 E at Detroit 93, Chicago 74 1988 W at Lakers 117, Dallas 102 1987 E at Boston 117, Detroit 114 1982 E Philadelphia 120, at Boston 106 1981 E at Boston 91, Philadelphia 90

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Note: In history of NBA, home teams are 22-5 in Game 7s of conference/division finals.