Overtime hardly helped Allen Iverson's
bid for the scoring title, but it did help the Philadelphia
76ers wrap up sixth place in the Eastern Conference.
Iverson scored 33 points, including a rainbow jumper with eight
seconds left that forced overtime, and the 76ers scored the last
eight points in a 105-100 victory over the Detroit Pistons, who
had a six-game winning streak snapped.
Iverson scored only two points in the extra session, a pair of
clinching free throws with 28 seconds to go. He gleefully
dribbled out the clock instead of adding to his total, leaving
him with a final average of 26.75.
"I felt like when you just get your driver's license and you get
a brand new car to drive," Iverson said. "I felt great and the
crowd being into it the way they were, it was like a gift to the
people that supported us all year long. Now we can give
something back."
Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal needed 40 points
tonight against Portland to surpass Iverson, but managed just
18, making Iverson the first 76er since Wilt Chamberlain in
1965-66 to win the crown.
"I don't want to send a message that I was doing all the scoring
for the title," said Iverson, who led the league in shots. "I
did all that to help my team win. I'm the scorer on the team;
that's why I shoot the ball as much as I do."
"Everyone in this room should be excited if he wins the scoring
title," Sixers coach Larry Brown said. "My thoughts and hopes
coming into tonight were that we would play well, get the
victory and that Allen would win the scoring title without us
having to do anything outside or our normal game."
With his mother a frequent fan at the First Union Center and his
biggest supporter, Iverson has heard chants of "MVP, MVP" along
with the chance to lead the league in scoring.
"A championship ring, that's the most important thing to me,"
Iverson said. "Not MVP or the scoring title. I'd rather have a
championship."
The 76ers allowed 100 points for only the seventh time this year
but no more, holding the Pistons scoreless over the final 2:44.
Inside baskets by Matt Geiger, Tyrone Hill and rookie Larry
Hughes in an 85-second span turned a three-point deficit into a
103-100 lead with 41 seconds left.
In the playoffs for the first time since 1991, Philadelphia
(28-22) finished sixth in the East and will face third-seeded
Orlando in the first round. The Sixers were 2-1 against the
Magic this season, with each team winning at home.
"We can't just say `We've had success against Orlando' and just
go through the motions," Sixers guard Aaron McKie said. "We
have to go out there and play hard."
Iverson shot just 11-of-28 and had plenty of help. Hill had 21
points and nine rebounds, Geiger added 20, 16 and eight assists
and Eric Snow had a career-high 20 points and 10 assists. The
Sixers went 3-1 against the Pistons this season.
Grant Hill scored 27 points for Detroit (29-21), which finished
fifth in the East and will face Atlanta in the opening round.
The Pistons went 2-1 against the Hawks.
"We're confident going into the playoffs," Pistons coach Alvin
Gentry said. "It's a tough matchup with Atlanta. They're a very
good basketball team."
"If we play good basektball, we've got a shot to beat them,"
said Hill, who has yet to win a playoff series in his five-year
career.
Former Sixer Jerry Stackhouse scored 21 points for Detroit,
including two free throws with 20 seconds left in regulation
that appeared to seal it at 93-89.
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