SAN ANTONIO VS. LOS ANGELES PHILADELPHIA VS. MILWAUKEE

Wednesday, May 30 Cassell finds touch just in time Associated Press MILWAUKEE --Sam Cassell, his battered ribs protected by a flack jacket, saved the Milwaukee Bucks just when they were about to let a "gimme" game get away. "Sam gave us that edge that no one else on the court had," Bucks coach George Karl said after Cassell's 24 points and dominant defense helped Milwaukee take a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven series with Philadelphia. With MVP Allen Iverson out of Philadelphia's lineup with a hip injury, Aaron McKie moved over to guard Ray Allen, and Eric Snow was inserted into the Sixers' starting lineup in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals. Cassell took advantage, but it took him a while. Despite the absence of the league's top scorer, the Sixers hung around behind the gritty play of Aaron McKie and Dikembe Mutombo before succumbing 80-74. The Bucks led just 45-43 five minutes into the second half when Cassell capitalized on his matchup with Snow, scoring 10 straight points. "That was huge," Glenn Robinson said. "We were struggling at the beginning of the third quarter. He came down and hit a jump shot. With the guys we've got, all it takes is to make one shot and you can hit three, four in a row." Cassell swished three straight jumpers over the fifth-year guard for a 51-43 lead, then added a bank shot and another jumper for the bulk of a 16-4 run that gave the Bucks control at 59-47. Cassell didn't share the ball much -- he had just four assists -- but he made sure to divvy up the honor. "I give my teammates a lot of credit, especially my big guys," Cassell said. "They got me open. They allowed me to run off some screens and Eric Snow went over the top. I just used my penetration ability to make some tough jumpers. He got his hand on at least three of them. I just made my shot tonight." The Sixers never got closer than five points after that, and the Bucks survived a fourth-quarter scoring drought. Cassell, who hurt his ribs in the semifinals against Charlotte, also played superb defense on Snow, one of the Sixers whom Karl feared would take up the scoring slack in Iverson's absence. Cassell went down on a pick-and-roll when he banged into Snow with two minutes left and after limping through two more trips downcourt, he lay on the floor during a timeout with 1:18 left while the trainer tended to him. He stayed in the game and was 3-for-4 from the line in the closing seconds. "I got the wind knocked out of me and that really scared me because I couldn't breathe and that's why I fell to my knees," Cassell said. Some people think Cassell's ribs are actually cracked, not just bruised, but the Bucks don't discuss the nature of injuries. Karl loathes talking about aches and pains and Cassell would only say: "This is not a basketball injury, this is a football injury." Robinson said it was ironic that Cassell, the Bucks' most injured player, had such a big game on the night when Iverson sat out. "We've got guys that play hurt, too. Everybody's hurt this time of year," Robinson said. "Sam, I don't know what's going on underneath his shirt. He looked like he had a bulletproof vest on out there." Snow missed his first eight shots from the floor and his first four shots from the line before finishing with four points on 1-of-11 shooting. He also turned the ball over six times. "If I play any kind of a decent game, we probably win, so it's all on me," Snow said. "For the most part, everybody else did what they were supposed to do and make plays, except for me." Snow insisted he wasn't trying to do it all himself with Iverson out. "I don't think I was trying to do too much because a lot of the plays that I had were simple," Snow said. "I just didn't make plays. I didn't make free throws and some of my turnovers weren't forced. So, it was me." And Cassell. "I've been saying it the whole year," Cassell reminded everyone. "As I go, we go." Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories

ALSO SEE Game 3: Bucks trudge past Iverson-less Sixers No Answer: Injured Iverson misses Game 3 AUDIO/VIDEO  Watch Sam Cassell score 10 consecutive points in the Bucks' Game 3 win over the Sixers. avi: 1397 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN Cable Modem  Sam Cassell says the Bucks did not take full advantage of Allen Iverson's absence. wav: 102 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6