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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
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SHOT CHART
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GAME FLOW
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Allen Iverson stood at the 3-point line,
looked Ray Allen squarely in the face and noticed him lean back
ever so slightly on his heels.
|  | | Ray Allen had 31 points and hit 4-of-6 from 3-point range, but found himself doubled at times. |
Using that split-second to make the biggest decision of the
game, Iverson promptly sank a 3-pointer with 1:10 left that sealed the Bucks' fate.
The shot gave Philadelphia a seven-point lead that the Bucks
couldn't recover from as the 76ers held off Milwaukee 93-85 Tuesday
night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.
"I was struggling, and I don't think if I was hitting he would
have backed off me like that," said Iverson, who scored 34 points
on 13-for-35 shooting. "But he picked his poison and I hit that
shot."
The basket gave the Sixers a 90-83 lead after they had let a
16-point advantage dwindle to two, and they went on to retain the
homecourt advantage -- unlike what they did in their first two
series of this postseason when they lost Game 1s to Indiana and
Toronto.
Iverson scored 16 points in the second quarter despite a bruised
hip and buttocks that slowed him early and contributed to him
missing his first nine shots.
Aaron McKie added 23 points and Dikembe Mutombo had 15 points,
18 rebounds and four blocks, giving the Sixers a "Big Three" of
their own that could more than stand up to Milwaukee's Allen, Glenn
Robinson and Sam Cassell.
Allen finished with 31 points for the Bucks and Cassell had 20,
but Robinson struggled through a 1-for-10 first half and finished
with 15.
The Sixers controlled the boards, played more intense defense
and held Milwaukee more than 14 points below its playoff average.
The series resumes Thursday night with Game 2.
"We can't play any worse. We didn't do anything we wanted to,"
Cassell said.
The 76ers scored 38 points in the paint, including 22 in the
second quarter when they outscored Milwaukee 32-16 to take control
of the game. The Sixers grabbed 17 offensive rebounds and came up
with nine steals.
The Bucks had to have an inkling that it wasn't going to be
their night when the first quarter ended in a 19-19 tie despite
Iverson's 0-for-9 shooting, which included a missed layup and an
airball just before the buzzer.
"The worst thing we did was when we stopped (Iverson) from
scoring, their other guys made shots. That got their confidence
going and they played well as a team," Allen said.
McKie had a steal and dunk for a 34-29 lead, and Iverson ripped
some padding out from under the back of his waistband and tossed it
aside as the teams came out of a timeout early in the second
quarter.
"I was just out there hurting," Iverson said. "I told (coach
Larry Brown) that it was worse than the last time when I missed
five games."
Iverson proceeded to hit his next four shots as the 76ers closed
the first half with a 26-10 run -- including the final 10 points of
the quarter -- for a 51-35 lead.
Milwaukee pulled within 10 early in the third before Iverson
discovered another burst of energy, racing in for a fast-break
layup off a steal by McKie. Cassell drew a technical foul for
arguing that a foul should have been called, and Iverson made the
free throw and then hit a 3-pointer to make it 59-43.
The Bucks responded with a 12-0 run as Allen repeatedly found
enough space to get off his jumper, but they only pulled within
four, 59-55, before Iverson ended the run with a mid-range jumper.
Philadelphia led 70-63 entering the fourth, and the lead grew to
12 before Allen re-entered the game after sitting out the first
four minutes of the quarter. Allen hit his first shot and completed
a three-point play, and his 3-pointer off an offensive rebound made
it 85-80 with 2:38 left.
Eric Snow missed a jumper and Cassell hit three free throws to
make it 85-83 with 1:59 left, but Iverson drove the lane and was
fouled. He made both free throws after Ervin Johnson was called for
a lane violation, and Robinson missed a shot over McKie before
Iverson hit his clutch 3-pointer with 1:10 left.
"I played bad defense on that one," Allen said. "I wanted to
make him drive and kind of close him out, but I jumped back a
little bit."
That was all the room Iverson needed to bury the Bucks.
Game notes
Matt Geiger, who sat out the final six games of the
second-round series against Toronto because of soreness in his knee
and leg, played 12 minutes and had two points and four rebounds.
... Tim Thomas (nine points) was the only Milwaukee reserve to
score. ... Jumaine Jones played excellent defense on Robinson in
the first half, contributing to Robinson's 1-for-10 start. ... The
Bucks have never won an Eastern Conference title. They went to the
NBA Finals in 1971 and 1974 as Western Conference champions.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Milwaukee Clubhouse
Philadelphia Clubhouse
Big Dog provides little bite in Bucks' opener
Brown captures first NBA Coach of Year honor
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Coach George Karl felt the Bucks didn't play well enough to win on the road.
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Allen Iverson comments on struggling early and how he eventually broke out of his slump in Game 1.
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The Sixers' Tyrone Hill thinks Milwaukee didn't have a chance to win Game 1.
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Glenn Robinson says the Bucks needed to keep Allen Iverson down when they had the chance.
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