Thursday, June 7 Iverson's 3-pointer in OT buries Lakers By Wayne Drehs ESPN.com LOS ANGELES -- For a good part of the fourth quarter and overtime Wednesday, Allen Iverson barely had enough room to scratch his nose in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Allen Iverson steps over Tyronn Lue after the Lakers guard tumbled trying to defend Iverson in OT. Hounded by Lakers reserve Tyronn Lue, Iverson had just three points in a 24-minute span. But then it happened. After an Iverson-like crossover dribble, Lue drove to the basket, missed a layup and fell to the floor. Iverson seized the opportunity, sneaking along the right wing without a Laker in sight. When the ball finally crossed midcourt, Sixers guard Aaron McKie spotted a wide-open Iverson, fired a bullet-like chest pass to the diminutive guard and watched him bury a 3-pointer from beyond the left elbow. The shot not only gave the Sixers a 101-99 lead with 1:19 left, but it stunned the Lakers faithful who thought for sure their team was going to come through after erasing a 15-point deficit to force OT. A quick Lakers turnover and a stop-on-a-dime Iverson jumper seconds later and just like that, the Sixers had shocked everyone by stealing Game 1 on the Lakers' home floor. "You get down in overtime to the L.A. Lakers and everybody has already got their brooms out," Iverson said. "And that's what we think about, you know? That's what we think about. That's what drives us, everybody saying that we can't do it." For Lue, Iverson's game-breaking 3-pointer was a disappointing end to what had been an all-but-perfect defensive performance on who is quickly becoming the league's most dangerous weapon. "I looked up, saw him wide open," said Lue, knowing he was in trouble. "I knew that he was going to knock that down." Lue's missed layup and Iverson's ensuing 3-pointer marked a critical five-point swing. Lue said that he felt Iverson fouled him on the drive, hence the reason he was knocked to the Staples Center floor. "I was going to the hole and he sorta' knocked me in my hip and I went down," Lue said. "If the roles were reversed and he was on offense and I was on defense, you better believe it would have been a foul." Lakers coach Phil Jackson was not upset with his reserve point guard for failing to get back on defense. Instead, he was disappointed in the other four Lakers on the floor for failing to match up with the wide-open Iverson in transition. "That was really the knife that wounded us," Jackson said. "He understood it was a tough game for us tonight," Lue said. The 3-pointer clearly re-energized Iverson, who had grown increasingly frustrated by Lue. On the baseline jumper he hit seconds after drilling the 3, Iverson used one of his textbook stutter-step moves, leaving Lue all but helpless. After the ball swished through the net, Iverson screamed out, then pointedly stepped over the fallen Lue. A Kobe Bryant crossover pulled the Lakers to two down with 33.3 seconds left, but the Sixers had another answer. A running one-hander by Eric Snow with the shot clock about to expire assured that Iverson's clutch jumpers wouldn't go to waste. "I had a good look at it and I just wanted to give it a chance to go in," Snow said. "We had worked so hard tonight." Snow said the biggest difference during the final two minutes of the overtime period was the ability the Sixers had to get into a transition game and thus free up their sweet-shooting superstar. "When he gets the ball in transition, you don't really know where your help is coming from," Snow said. "It makes it easier than playing against a set defense." Wayne Drehs is a staff writer for ESPN.com. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories

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