Iverson scores 48,
spoils LA.*s plan
By Chris Sheridan
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — There won’t be
a sweep in the NBA Finals unless
it’s the 76ers — not the Lakers —
who can pull one off.
In a thrilling opener to the cham
pionship round, Allen Iverson had
a mesmerizing first half, a poor sec
ond half and a clutch overtime,
scoring 48 points to lead Philadel
phia to a 107-101 victory Wednes
day night.
Iverson scored seven straight
points after the clock ticked inside
two minutes to give Philadelphia a
lead it never relinquished. The
76ers ended the Lakers’ 19-game
winning streak, giving them their
first loss in 67 days.
“We knew we could win before
we came here, with everybody
counting us out,” Iverson said.
“They thought we would get swept,
and that is like a slap in the face.”
Iverson and Shaquille O’Neal
both had 41 points at the end of the
fourth quarter, but Iverson scored
only three over the final 19 minutes
of regulation as he was hounded de
fensively by speedy Lakers reserve
Tyronn Lue.
O’Neal hit a jump hook for the
first points of the overtime, Kobe
Bryant spun around Eric Snow for a
layup and O’Neal hit one of two
from the line for a five-point lead
with three minutes left.
Raja Bell flung up an underhand
ed shot with his left hand that fell
through, and Iverson hit two foul
shots to get the 76ers within 99-98
with 1:46 left.
Lue then missed a drive and Iver
son beat him downcourt and hit a
wide-open three-pointer. After a
turnover by Rick Fox, Iverson
buried a corner jumper over Lue for
a 103-99 lead.
Bryant answered with a jumper,
but Snow hit a runner from the lane
with 10.5 seconds left for a four
point lead that all but ended the
game — along with all the talk about
how the Lakers would sweep the
76ers and become the first team to
go undefeated through the postsea
son.
“That’s the way we are. We play
hard,” Iverson said. “We came in
here expecting to win. We know we
can win. Everybody’s been counting
us out.”
O’Neal finished with 44 points
and 20 rebounds, but Bryant scored
just 15 points on 7-for-22 shooting.
“I don’t think Kobe Bryant had a
Kobe kind of day, and he will play
better Friday,” Snow said. “In OT,
we came out slow but gathered the
troops, Allen hit a big shot and we
got some stops.”
Game 2 is Friday night.
Iverson had his third consecutive
40-point game, and Snow and
Dikembe Mutombo added 13 points
each.
Fifteen minutes before tipoff, the
crowd at Staples Center began
chanting, “SWEEP! SWEEP!”
But when Iverson started hitting
from all over, the chorus turned to
“OOH” and “AAH.”
Iverson scored 30 points in the
first half as the 76ers came back
from an early 13-point deficit, and
he opened the second half with a
jumper that hit nothing but net and
brought more howls of astonish
ment from the celebrity-studded
crowd.
Midway through the third quar
ter, Iverson came up with a steal,
raced ahead of O’Neal and braced
himself for a 350-pound impact as
he went up for a layup. O’Neal,
however, barely even swiped at the
ball. The layup gave Philadelphia a
68-56 lead, and a three-point play
by Snow put the Sixers ahead 73-58
with 5:23 left in the third.
That’s when the Lakers started to
show some resiliency of their own.
O’Neal scored the Lakers’ next 12
points, dominating Matt Geiger and
Todd MacCulloch as 76ers coach
Larry Brown gave Mutombo (who
had three fouls) an extended rest —
the final 6:18 of the quarter. Brown
picked up a technical foul with 55
seconds left in the quarter, and the
Lakers were able to cut their deficit
to 79-77 entering the fourth.
Mutombo made a hook shot with
8:41 left for an 88-81 lead before Lue
— perhaps the only player in the
NBA quicker than Iverson — came
up with two steals and a three
pointer that got the crowd on its
feet.
McCallum
continued from page 11
scored five points and placed 47th.
Many thought that it was
Dellinger’s refusal to recruit signifi
cant international talent during this
time that led to the program’s de
cline. In fact, two of the very few
NCAA scorers in the late-’90s lull
were Denmark’s Piotr Buckiarski
and Britain’s Karl Keska.
Dellinger left in 1998 and hand
ed the reins to Smith, who had two
years similar to.the past seven —
sixth and seventh in the Pac-10 and
65th and 44th at the NCAAs.
That was before Smith’s first re
cruits became sophomores and jun
iors. Smith has dipped into the in
ternational pool of athletes,
bringing in the school’s first
Kenyan and Ethiopian runners —
Simon Kimata and Michael
Kasahun — as well as Argentinean
decathlete Santiago Lorenzo. But
they have been Smith’s only ven
tures outside U.S. borders, and for
that matter, some of the only ven
tures outside Oregon.
One of the keys for Smith has
been not missing out on blue-chip
recruits from within the state of
Oregon. This year’s 1,500-meter
champion, Bryan Berryhill of Col
orado State, was one of those blue
chips. The Central Point native re
ceived no interest from Dellinger
when he graduated from Crater
High School in 1996.
The same went for Tom Pappas
when he graduated from Lane
Community College that same year.
In 1998, Pappas broke the collegiate
decathlon record for Tennessee.
Smith doesn’t look to make the
same mistakes, as he netted the na
tion’s top recruiting class last sea
son, which included mostly Orego
nians.
This year’s roster included 25
Oregonians, 11 others from the
West Coast, four from west of the
Mississippi River and three over
seas athletes. Their ninth-place fin
ish nationally proves that a team of
local talent can work.
Eleven of Oregon’s 27 NCAA
points this year came from Coos
Bay native John Stiegeler, the na
tional javelin champion, and Aza
lea native Billy Pappas, the younger
brother of Tom, an All-American
decathlete. Six more came from
prized U.S. recruit Jason Hartmann.
With all the Ducks’ NCAA scor
ers, and many, many more, it looks
as if Smith and the Ducks will be a
national power with local talent for
many years to come.
Robbie McCallum is a sports reporter for
the Emerald. He can be reached at
coach_robbie@lycos.com.
Amazing M’s continue streak
SEATTLE — The Seattle
Mariners stretched their winning
streak to 14, the longest in the Amer
ican League in seven years, by beat
ing the Texas Rangers 7-3 Wednes
day night.
Jamie Moyer (8-1) allowed three
hits in seven shutout innings and
Edgar Martinez homered. The
Mariners, 46-12, haven't lost since a
12-11 defeat at Minnesota May 2 2.
Seattle, which took a 7-0 lead in
sweeping its fourth straight series,
matched the second-best 58-game
start since 1900, trailing only the
1912 New York Giants (47-11). The
1907 Chicago Cubs and the 1939
New York Yankees also started 46
12.
The last AL team to win 14
straight had been Kansas City from
July 23-Aug. 5,1994. Atlanta won 15
in a row from April 16 to May 2 last
year.
Texas is 2-7 against the Mariners
this year.
Alex Rodriguez, who left Seattle
to sign a record $252 million, 10
year contract with Texas, saw the
last-place Rangers fall 26 games be
hind the Mariners. He was 0 for 2 in
the game and went 1 for 10 with a
home run in the three-game series,
his second as a visitor in Seattle.
Moyer, who struck out seven,
joined teammate Aaron Sele (8-0) as
the second eight-game winner in the
AL. Arizona's Curt Schilling has 10
victories.
Darren Oliver (4-2), activated
from the disabled list before the
game, gave up one run and five hits
in seven innings. He pitched for the
first time since May 7, when he was
hit in the left thumb by a liner off the
bat of Tony Graffanino.
Martinez homered in the first, a
drive to center just over a leaping
Gabe Kapler.
Seattle broke open the game with
a six-run eighth, getting seven hits.
Martinez and Bret Boone had RBI
singles off J.D. Smart, pinch-hitter
John Olerud had a two-run double
off Juan Moreno, and David Bell and
Dan Wilson added RBI doubles off
Jeff Zimmerman.
Bullpen coach John McLaren was
4-0 while filling in for manager Lou
Piniella, who went to Tampa, Fla.,
for his father-in-law's funeral. Piniel
la is expected to return for Friday
night's game against San Diego.
Ken Caminiti hit an RBI single in
the ninth off Jose Paniagua, and
Ruben Sierra hit a two-run single off
Arthur Rhodes.
Game notes:
Seattle OF Mike Cameron was
scratched from the lineup at game
time because of a sprained left knee.
He was injured Tuesday night, in
Seattle's comeback 5-4 victory. ...
Martinez has hit the most home runs
(23) at Safeco Field. Jay Buhner of
Seattle is next with 18 and Ro
driguez, who played in Seattle with
Safeco as his home for 11/2 seasons,
has 14.... Seattle is 7-2 against Texas
this season.... The Mariners are 18
4 against AL West teams.
Schilling becomes first
10-game winner
PHOENIX — Curt Schilling
pitched a six-hitter to become the
major leagues’ first 10-game winner
as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat
the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1
Wednesday night.
Schilling (10-1) struck out eight
and didn’t walk a batter in his major
league-leading fourth complete
game, his third in four starts.
Damian Miller drove in two runs
with a homer and a double, and Jay
Bell also homered and doubled for
the Diamondbacks, who had lost the
first two of the four-game series be
tween the top two teams in the NL
West.
Mark Grace extended his hitting
streak to 15 games with an RBI dou
ble.
Shawn Green spoiled Schilling’s
shutout bid with a one-out homer in
the ninth.
The Associated Press
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