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Philadelphia wins as Allen Iverson gets 16 assists and Vince Carter misses the final shot. Milwaukee turns to its reliable Big Three to advance.
©Associated Press
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 21, 2001
The 76ers won in an unconventional manner, with their scoring leader getting 16 assists and going scoreless in the final 6 1/2 minutes. The Bucks won as they usually do -- with their Big Three combining for 74 points.
The home teams won Game 7 Sunday and advanced to face each other in the Eastern Conference final, with Philadelphia defeating Toronto 88-87 and Milwaukee defeating Charlotte 104-95. Game 1 is Tuesday in Philadelphia.
At Philadelphia, league MVP Allen Iverson's shooting touch was off, so he created shots for his teammates.
"I wanted to do something special, but the way you draw it up -- if you're a scorer -- is having a great scoring night. In a million years I'd never believe I'd come out and have a career high in assists," Iverson said.
"I feel so good about this win because I really, really know inside and believe that I have a team, for the first time in my life, that I feel we can win a championship with."
Iverson ran to hug his mother and children, confetti fell from the ceiling of the First Union Center and the rest of the Sixers celebrated the franchise's first trip to the Eastern Conference final since 1985.
Toronto had a final chance, but Vince Carter, who graduated from North Carolina earlier Sunday and then flew on a private plane to Philadelphia, was long on a 23-footer just before the buzzer.
Aaron McKie's 22 points were one more than Iverson totaled on 8-for-27 shooting.
McKie shot 8-for-16 and scored Philadelphia's final four points, Jumaine Jones shot 6-for-9 and added 16, Eric Snow contributed 13 points and five assists and Dikembe Mutombo grabbed 17 rebounds and scored 10 points.
Iverson's passing made all the difference as he continually found the open players for shots that allowed the Sixers to hold on to the lead for almost the entire game.
Carter finished with 20 points on 6-for-18 shooting, scoring just four in the final quarter. Antonio Davis led Toronto with 23.
Dell Curry pulled up in transition and hit a three-pointer to pull the Raptors to 88-87 with 54 seconds left. Iverson missed a jumper at the other end, but Tyrone Hill grabbed the offensive rebound and the Sixers ran the clock down to 10 seconds before Iverson passed to Eric Snow for a jumper that missed.
The Raptors rebounded, but didn't call a timeout until 3.6 seconds remained. The Sixers had a foul to give and used it -- running the clock down to 2.0 seconds -- before Carter got free for the inbounds pass and faked Hill off his feet.
"All I can think about is that shot. It's something you live for," Carter said. "It could've been a great day or a terrible day. Maybe next year."
At Milwaukee, Glenn Robinson scored 29 points and Ray Allen had 28, matching their career playoff highs, and Sam Cassell added 17.
Bucks coach George Karl praised center Ervin Johnson, who had 11 rebounds and four blocks as Milwaukee tied a franchise playoff record with 13 blocked shots, including at least one by all five starters.
Said Johnson, who didn't get along with Karl when they were in Seattle together: "We got married again, and hopefully it's for life."
After becoming a starter in Game 5, Johnson had 41 rebounds and 12 blocks. He also helped frustrate Charlotte's Elden Campbell and Jamal Mashburn.
"I got sick and tired of seeing Ervin Johnson," said Mashburn, who again failed to come through in a clutch game. Mashburn, criticized for poor play in Miami, shot 7-for-25 and finished with 21 points.
"The shots just didn't fall," he said. "That's part of basketball."
Cassell tied a playoff career high with 13 assists as the Bucks overcame Baron Davis' career-high 29 points.
The Bucks hit 33 of 35 free throws -- including all 20 in the fourth quarter -- to the Hornets' 17-for-28.
The Hornets led 47-44 at halftime and were ahead 58-51 with 8:11 left after Davis stripped Johnson for his 18th steal of the series and made a layup.
But the Hornets didn't score again for 5:15, until Davis sank his second of two free throws with 2:56 left in the quarter. By then, the Bucks had stormed ahead 61-58 with a 10-0 run capped by Williams' four free throws.
Davis missed two free throws later in the quarter, as did Jamaal Magloire, and when Lindsey Hunter made an open three-pointer with 30 seconds left in the quarter, the Bucks had their biggest lead at 70-61.
Davis made a three-pointer with six seconds left, but Robinson made a running three-pointer at the buzzer for a 73-64 lead.
Second-year forward Jumaine Jones, used sparingly in the regular season, made his presence felt in a big way in the 76ers' victory.
Jones, starting his third straight game because of an injury to George Lynch, scored a career playoff-high 16 points.
"I've never been in a big game like that," Jones said. "It was really a tough game."
Jones, who averaged 4.7 points, has played more in the playoffs because of injuries to Lynch and backup center Matt Geiger.
"Jumaine's contribution was incredible," Sixers coach Larry Brown said. "But he's got Glenn Robinson coming up so it'll be interesting."
TONIGHT: Lakers at Spurs, 8:30, TNT. Lakers lead series 1-0.