Philadelphia Has Its Story

Allen Iverson scored on consecutive three-point shots to end the third quarter and begin the fourth quarter. He scored 11 points in an 18-2 Philadelphia run that gave the 76ers the lead for good in the second quarter.

The NBA’s most valuable player scored on fastbreak scoop shots, line-drive three-point attempts, twisting layups and one-footed, one-handed baseline jumpers.

As the final seconds were running out Sunday, after all his 44 points, after Philadelphia had beaten the Milwaukee Bucks 108-91, in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals, Iverson ran around the floor, begging the crowd to cheer louder. The fans did.

The 76ers will meet the Lakers Wednesday in Game 1 of the NBA finals. It is the first time since 1983 the 76ers will be in the finals and the fourth consecutive time Philadelphia will find the Lakers as their opponent.

“I really don’t even know what to say about it,” Philadelphia native and NBA sixth man of the year Aaron McKie said, “but I know we’re not just happy to be [in the finals]. I want to win. I know we can win.”

McKie might be the only one who believes that, but for a night, the 76ers played a game capable of beating the Lakers.

Iverson, struggling with his shooting all series, had warmed up Friday while scoring 26 points in the fourth quarter against the Bucks in a Game 6 loss. He didn’t lose the touch. Sunday, he was 17 for 33 from the field.

Dikembe Mutombo, who had been discounted by Milwaukee Coach George Karl before the series as a player who would have no impact on the jump-shooting Bucks and who Karl thought the 76ers had mistakenly traded for, had 23 points, 19 rebounds and seven blocked shots.

After the game Karl was asked about his Mutombo assessment. His answer? Karl stormed off the podium and threw up his arms in disgust.

Mutombo thinks he knows why Karl was so angry. “He was trying to get inside my mind,” Mutombo said. “I think he was scared to see the ‘Ghost of ‘95’ back. I think he saw them again. He forgot what I did to his team in Seattle.”

Mutombo had the wrong year, but the right ghost. It was in 1994 that he led the No. 8-seeded Denver Nuggets to a stunning first-round upset of Karl’s Seattle SuperSonics.

There were other ghostly performances Sunday night.

Raja Bell, who would consider it a compliment to be called a peripheral player, a CBA refugee and a product of Florida International, scored 10 points for the 76ers in the first half. Why was Bell playing?

“I don’t know,” 76er Coach Larry Brown said. “I thought he earned it with the way he played defense in Game 6.” McKie had 10 points, 13 assists and six rebounds.

But it was Iverson who commanded the attention, set the tempo and made the 76ers win this game. Iverson had played all series with a badly bruised hip and tailbone. The pain was so bad Iverson sat out Game 3, convinced he was hurting his team.

It was when he was shooting, when he could get no lift because of weakness in his hips, that Iverson was bothered most by his injury. He was five for 26 from the field in Game 2; 10 for 32 in Game 4; five for 27 in Game 5. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter of Game 6, after Philadelphia had fallen behind by 33 points, that Iverson suddenly rediscovered his shooting touch.

“I don’t want to say that gave me more confidence,” Iverson said. “I never lose my confidence. If I lose that part of my game, I’m losing 99% of my game. But that fourth quarter did help. I knew that if I could get my stroke back, make some shots, maybe it would carry over. Obviously, it did carry over.”

Milwaukee began the game short-handed.

Starting forward Scott Williams, who had averaged 4.5 points and 5.8 rebounds in the series and who had scored 10 of the Bucks’ first 14 points in Game 6, was suspended after a review of his hard foul against Iverson early in Game 6. Darvin Ham, who hadn’t scored in this series, started in Williams’ place and had three fouls in the first quarter.

With 4:56 left in the third quarter and the 76ers ahead, 68-61, Ray Allen collided with Philadelphia guard Eric Snow. Allen, who had 18 points at the time, was on the floor for nearly two minutes and didn’t return until the 10:07 mark of the fourth quarter. When Allen returned, Philadelphia was ahead, 87-73.

Philadelphia did have to endure one more anxious moment, when Iverson was slammed by Milwaukee’s Tim Thomas while going for a layup. The Philadelphia guard rolled in pain on the floor while holding his left wrist. But after a timeout, Iverson was returned to the game.

Philadelphia trailed, 34-25, when the 76ers started their biggest run. Tyrone Hill began things with a rebound putback of an Iverson miss. Iverson scored back-to-back three-point shots to end the 18-2 streak and give the 76ers a 43-36 lead. The Bucks got as close as four points once in the second quarter and as close as five points twice in the third quarter but never closer.

Iverson left the floor, finally, with the crowd chanting “MVP” and “Beat L.A.” Fireworks went off inside the building.

“I’m happy for them,” said Karl, who added that he would watch all the finals on TV and root for the 76ers. “The Lakers have . . . a lot of prophesies to be proven wrong. I hope the 76ers go out, play great defense because they can cause a lot of frustration at the defensive end of the court. If Iverson has a night like he had tonight, if Mutombo is dominating the paint, they can win games.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Eastern Conference Finals

Best of Seven

1. PHILADELPHIA vs. 2. MILWAUKEE

Philadelphia wins series: 4-3

Game 1 Philadelphia 93, Milwaukee 85

Game 2 Milwaukee 92, Philadelphia 78

Game 3 Milwaukee 80, Philadelphia 74

Game 4 Philadelphia 89, Milwaukee 83

Game 5 Philadelphia 89, Milwaukee 88

Game 6 Milwaukee 110, Philadelphia 100

Game 7 Philadelphia 108, Milwaukee 91