76ers Have No Time for Pain

There appeared to be a little old man, a hobbled and hunched-over guy with his hand pressed to the small of his back, aiming to lose a race to a one-legged turtle at the pace he was walking at the Philadelphia 76ers practice Monday.

Except it wasn’t a little old man.

The guy with the crick in his neck, the spasm in his back, the pain in his butt, that was the NBA’s most valuable player, Allen Iverson.

And as Iverson crept by a 76er official he asked someone, anyone, a question.

“What are we calling this injury?” Iverson wanted to know.

If you’re into labels, Iverson’s injury is being called a hip and buttocks contusion. In other words, a pain in the you know what. Iverson didn’t practice Monday. He’s resting whenever possible so as to be a pain in the you know what again tonight when the 76ers play host to the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Besides Iverson with a sore backside, hot-shooting guard Aaron McKie has a sore shoulder; center Dikembe Mutombo has a broken pinkie finger; onetime starting guard Eric Snow has a bad, bad ankle, one that has pained him most of the season and is getting worse, and starting forward George Lynch broke his foot in the first-round series against the Indiana Pacers.

“I’m just sore,” Iverson said. “We’re all sore. But there’s no time to be sore anymore.”

The 76ers had the best record in the East, but now they have a starting forward named Jumaine Jones who might actually be a key to this series. Jones will have to defend against Buck forward Glenn Robinson.

Off the bench, the Bucks will see such NBA mystery men as Rodney Buford, Raja Bell and Todd MacCulloch. As Milwaukee guard Ray Allen said Monday: “If Iverson scores 50 points, we’ll lose. Otherwise, I think we can stop some of the other guys.”

Milwaukee Coach George Karl tried to get his team riled up a little, tried to start a little word war Monday before the Bucks left for Philadelphia by talking about how dissed he felt as a result of the trade Philadelphia made two months ago.

In a controversial move, the 76ers sent starting center Theov Ratliff, sixth man Toni Kukoc and backup center Nazr Mohammed to Atlanta for Mutombo. Ratliff had a broken wrist at the time and the 76ers seemed to be looking ahead to a finals matchup against the Lakers and Shaquille O’Neal.

“I understand why they got Mutombo,” Karl said. “Maybe they were looking to the West. But that’s [ticking] me off a little--they were looking past the Eastern Conference and saying, ‘We can’t beat Shaq without Mutombo.’ That seems like they’re disrespecting us.”

And Mutombo’s shot-blocking enforcer status may not be as overwhelming against the jump-shooting Bucks who rely on Allen, Sam Cassell and Robinson to pop from the outside.

But this is all periphery. What will matter most is whether Iverson can move. Iverson needs to be able to stutter-step with his feet, wiggle his hips, do a double take and leave his defenders behind. His movement and quickness have allowed him to dominate the East this year and if Iverson is hurting, the Bucks aren’t.

“Sitting in a car by myself last night, I was just trying to breathe,” Iverson said. “I know I hurt everywhere and I haven’t even tried to run yet. But that’s OK. Everything that went on this year for us has been a hard ride, a bumpy ride. That’s Allen Iverson’s life in a nutshell. It’s been hard to get to this point and it’s going to be harder to get where I want to go.”

Where the 76ers haven’t gone so far in the playoffs has been to a Game 1 win. Against Indianapolis in Round 1 and against Toronto and Round 2, Philadelphia lost the first game of the series, and it’s home-court advantage, immediately.

“We can’t afford to have any slip-ups with the home court, especially as short-handed as we are,” Philadelphia Coach Larry Brown said. “We’ve got some tough matchups even if we’re healthy.”

The teams split four games during the regular season, each winning once on the other’s home court. Iverson averaged 37 points a game and neither Allen nor Cassell, Milwaukee’s other starting guard, could handle Iverson defensively. An injury-free Iverson.

But as infirm as Iverson appeared Monday, he has emotional and physical reserves that have carried the 76ers all year.

“This kid, he amazes you every day,” Brown said.

Added McKie: “No matter how much he’s hurting, Allen will forget all that tomorrow night. He will figure out a way to score and a way to help this team win when we need it. Whatever you want to say, do not ever question Allen’s heart and don’t underestimate what he will overcome.”