Allen Iverson scored 10 points in a decisive fourth-quarter run
and Jim Jackson hit six free throws in the final 36 seconds as
the Philadelphia 76ers completed their first season-series sweep
of the Los Angeles Lakers in 15 years with a 113-107 victory.
Iverson matched the 31 points he had in Philadelphia's 105-98
victory over the Lakers on November 28th and added 11 assists.
After he gave the 76ers a 98-97 lead with 3:02 left on a
fast-break layup, Shaquille O'Neal put Los Angeles ahead,
101-100. But Iverson followed with five straight free throws
before Jackson sank six in a row from the line to ensure
Philadelphia's first sweep of the Lakers since the 1982-83
season.
"We played a solid game but the most important thing is that we
kept our poise in the end," Iverson said. "Even though we got
down, everybody executed and we felt we still had a legitimate
shot at winning the game."
Jackson and Theo Ratliff had season highs with 28 and 20 points,
respectively. Ratliff was also a defensive force inside,
collecting eight of the 76ers nine blocks.
"It's one of the best wins I've been around," said Philadelphia
coach Larry Brown. "We didn't have Timmy (Thomas) and we got
into so much foul trouble with Jimmy Jackson and Mark Davis it
was a miracle. Allen was phenomenal, Jimmy played great,
everybody played great."
Thomas was not at the arena due to a death in the family.
O'Neal, who missed the earlier meeting between the teams, had 26
points off the bench. Reserve Kobe Bryant added 20 and Rick Fox
had 16. Fox fed O'Neal for an alley-oop that gave the Lakers
their last lead with 1:48 to go.
Ratliff and Jackson scored eight points apiece as the Sixers
grabbed a 33-25 lead after one period. Jackson hit 11-of-11
from the line and added eight assists and three steals for
Philadelphia, which made 46 percent (38-of-83) from the field
and 35-of-39 (90 percent) from the foul line while improving to
3-3 on its seven-game road trip.
The 76ers started the second period with a 14-8 run to build a
46-33 cushion. The Lakers answered with a 9-3 burst and pulled
within 57-52 at the break. Robert Horry scored nine of his 11
points in the first half for Los Angeles, who only outrebounded
the Sixers by three (49-46) despite O'Neal's 16 boards.
"You can tell from the tip-off, guards taking ill-advised
jumpers," observed O'Neal. "When you are 2-of-16 (actually
3-of-17) from three-point range that's means your shot ain't
falling. It means you have to bring people down and get to the
hole. I don't think that we came in prepared."
Los Angeles made a push late in the third quarter, cutting the
deficit to 78-75 in the final minute, but Philadelphia mustered
a 6-2 run to close the period ahead, 84-77.
Fox led the Lakers back in the fourth quarter, scoring eight
points in a 12-2 run that gave Los Angeles a 89-86 lead after
his follow-shot and two free throws. The Lakers built their
advantage to 97-90 on three dunks by O'Neal and a bucket by
Elden Campbell with 4:35 left.
But Iverson, who up to that point was defended ably by Nick Van
Exel, began to break down the defense. With 4:01 left, he
drained a three-pointer to ignite the Sixers. Jackson followed
with a three-point play to slice the margin to 97-96 with 3:22
to go.
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