With the NBA in an indefinite hiatus due to COVID-19, we continue our day-by-day look back at the history of the Philadelphia 76ers. We continue down our path into Sixers history every day as we look to fill the void left by the absence of basketball.
This one takes us back to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2001 with the Sixers in need of a win. They already lost Game 3 to the Milwaukee Bucks on the road and are now facing the possibility of going down 3-1. So, this is the time a team that wants to win a championship dig deep and they step up to the challenge in front of them. Philadelphia did what they needed to do on this night.
May 28, 2001
The Bucks had used their Big 3 of Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson, and Sam Cassell to put themselves in this position to take another step towards an NBA title. While Philadelphia was, record-wise, the better team, a case could be made that Milwaukee had the better roster up and down. However, the Sixers had the best player in this series in Allen Iverson, and sometimes, that makes all the difference.
Iverson put up 28 points despite shooting just 10-for-32 from the floor and he had eight assists and five rebounds to lead the Sixers to an 89-83 win and tying the series. Dikembe Mutombo added 17 points and 15 rebounds, Tyrone Hill had 14 points, and Aaron McKie had 11 points and nine assists to help Iverson on the night.
The Sixers now have home-court advantage back in their possession. They now need to get back at it and make sure they keep it this time as the series shifts back to Philadelphia for Game 5. [lawrence-related id=32285,32277,32267]