Name of the Pain Is Iverson

It doesn’t matter, his teammates say, if Allen Iverson misses 22 shots and only makes 10. Because when Iverson has the ball in his hands, he has a Memorial Day parade of Bucks following him.

Besides, says Philadelphia 76er guard Aaron McKie: “Allen’s so electrifying how he does it. You don’t count how many shots he takes. It’s the big ones he makes that stick in your mind.”

Iverson made some big ones Monday. After sitting out Game 3 with a bruised hip and tailbone, Iverson came back to score a game-high 28 points--including 11 of Philadelphia’s final 13 points--as the 76ers beat Milwaukee, 89-83, to tie the best-of-seven NBA Eastern Conference finals at two games apiece. Game 5 is Wednesday in Philadelphia.

Even though he missed 10 consecutive shots at one point, even though he let Lindsey Hunter muscle the ball right out of his hands once, even though he was 0 for 5 on three-point shots, it was Iverson who made the plays to remember, the ones where even Buck fans had to say, “How did he do that?”

Like the time in the third quarter when the 6-foot Iverson was sandwiched between 6-5 Ray Allen and 6-11 Ervin Johnson with the shot clock running down. Iverson double-pumped while Allen flailed at the ball and then Iverson arched a high, sweet 15-foot baseline jumper over Johnson. Allen fouled Iverson and Philadelphia’s 63-60 lead became 66-60.

Or the time in the fourth quarter when Iverson sprinted around Milwaukee’s Glenn Robinson and sailed in a running bank shot. With 3:06 left in the game, his basket put the 76ers ahead, 80-75.

After Allen, with Iverson defending, missed a jump shot, Iverson dribbled to the center of the lane, had three Bucks run at him so he passed to Eric Snow, who was unguarded for an 18-foot jumper to increase that lead to 82-75.

“Those are the things where Allen’s presence makes a difference,” Philadelphia center Dikembe Mutombo said.

Mutombo, who had 17 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots, said he and his teammates also feed off Iverson.

“We defend harder, and we’re better rebounders,” said Tyrone Hill, who had 14 points after nearly sitting out so he could be with his father, who has had two strokes in 10 days. “Because so many guys concentrate on Allen when he has the ball, we can all get to the boards.”

In the first half it didn’t seem Iverson’s return was going to make a difference. After an initial burst of energy, when the 76ers gained a 33-26 lead early in the second quarter on a Jumaine Jones slam off an Iverson pass, the Bucks had a 14-0 run.

The pace was frantic with the Bucks running hard after Philadelphia misses and turnovers. Tim Thomas and Robinson made back-to-back three-pointers and reserve forward Jason Caffey finished things off with a running layup to give the Bucks a 40-33 lead. That would, it turned out, be the highlight for Milwaukee.

Jones stopped the Bucks’ streak with a layup and started a 7-0 Philadelphia run. The Bucks led at halftime, 42-40, but it was the 76ers who were high-fiving each other on the way off the court.

“The tempo was hard for us to control for a while in the first half,” Philadelphia Coach Larry Brown said. “We never got control of the game until the last two minutes of the first half. That little [7-0] run we had made a difference.”

In the second half, the bodies began colliding, elbows were hitting cheeks, heads were slamming into stomachs. McKie and Allen picked up double fouls for body-slamming each other near the end of the second quarter and Philadelphia’s Raja Bell and Thomas earned double technicals for gratuitous shoving at the end of the third quarter.

Blood was drawn in the fourth quarter when Iverson, after trying to swipe the ball from Allen, got an Allen elbow in his mouth. Iverson was catching blood in his hand while play went on (some harm, no foul) and Johnson scored on an open layup.

After a timeout, Iverson said he was afraid the refs wouldn’t let him back in the game, “because of the all the blood, so I swallowed it.” When somebody asked McKie afterward if he was afraid Iverson couldn’t return, McKie said: “Don’t let a little blood scare you. They didn’t pull Allen’s heart out in the middle of the floor did they?”

Of Milwaukee’s “Big Three,” only Robinson was up to par on offense, finishing with 20 points. Allen and Sam Cassell had 14 each.

“The Bucks hurt us some in the third quarter and then we settled down in the fourth,” Brown said. “[Iverson] did a tremendous job on Ray Allen. We just played very well defensively down the stretch.”

Robinson took exception with the way the referees were letting Philadelphia play defense. In the last two minutes Robinson got two technicals and an automatic ejection for arguing about a steal Iverson made off him that Robinson was sure was a foul.

Milwaukee Coach George Karl also needled the officials, mentioning how “the more physical team was the one shooting the free throws.”

But it wasn’t the officials who stole Milwaukee’s heart and momentum. It was Iverson.