Iverson Fires Philly Past Raptors

April 15, 1999 / 12:52 AM EDT / CBS/AP

Reduced to a sore, gimpy shadow of himself, Allen Iverson used his mind to inspire a rally that may have saved the Philadelphia 76ers' season.

Iverson, still hobbled by a deep thigh bruise suffered in a collision with Shaquille O'Neal, came up with a strategy for the Sixers to overcome an eight-point, second-half deficit with their playoff hopes teetering in the balance.

Related Links

More NBA coverage:

"Allen came out and said, `Guys, we've got to play like we're 16 points down,' " teammate Harvey Grant said after the Sixers came back for a 96-78 victory over the sinking Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night. "This was a game we had to have."

With a scintillating 29-8 run in the second half, the Sixers snapped a two-game losing streak that included an embarrassing 19-point loss to the Knicks on Tuesday.

The fading Raptors, who lost their fifth straight, went 10 minutes without a field goal in the second half. The drought coincided with the Sixers' run that spanned the third and fourth quarters.

The Sixers remained tied with for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East with Cleveland, which beat the Bulls 89-81. Philadelphia pulled within a half-game of the seventh-place Knicks, who lost to Washington 95-89 in overtime.

The Sixers appeared as dead as any team in the race in the first half against Toronto. They defiled the First Union Center with their worst shooting half of the season (22 percent), then came back to shoot a season-best 65 percent in the second.

"We wanted to win, although it didn't look like it in the first half," said Grant, who helped hold rookie sensation Vince Carter to 12 points and no dunks on 3-for-14 shooting

Iverson, who missed 11 of his first 13 shots against the Knicks, misfired on 11 of his first 14 attempts Wednesday night. He finally snapped out of it in the third, finishing with 20 points to maintain a slim lead over O'Neal in the league scoring race 26.6 to Shaq's 26.4.

"He's not shooting it real well, but it's hard for him," said Sixers coach Larry Brown, alluding to the thigh injury Iverson suffered on March 19 against the Lakers. "I think it's a miracle he is out on the court."

The Sixers had only three baskets in the second quarter (3-for-17) en route to their worst shooting half of the season 9-for-41.

"We were shooting like we were praying for it to go in," Brown said. "I told them I have no cure for that."

Iverson did. He told his teammates early in the third that to win, they had to pretend they were trailing by 16 instead of eight.

Rookie Larry Hughes came off the bench to score a career-high 22, and Matt Geiger had 18 points to help keep the Sixers' bid for a first playoff berth since 1991 alive. Doug Christie led the Raptors with 19 points.

"It was just a rough night," said Carter, who started 2-for-10. "It doesn't matter how I played. I mean a lot to this team, but it is a team effort."

With Toronto leading 51-43, Geiger made two free throws and a jumper, and Hughes dunked to start a 23-8 run that closed the third. Iverson hit a jumper, licked his lips and glared at Tracy McGrady as he backpedaled down the court, giving the Sixers a 59-55 lead. Aaron McKie's 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds left made it 66-59 Philadelphia at the end of the quarter.

McKie continued the run with an up-and-under move for the first basket of the fourth. Iverson hit a jumper, and Hughes gave Carter a run for bragging rights as the highest leaper in the building with a fantastic offensive rebound and putback.

"Our energy level went through the roof," Hughes said.

Iverson added a scoop shot over John Wallace, and Wallace finally ended the run with two free throws that cut it to 72-61 with 9:46 left.

Christie's baseline jumper with 7:35 left gave the Raptors their first field goal since 5:52 of the third.

Notes: Philadelphia's previous worst shooting half was 30 percent in the second half of a 76-69 loss to Atlanta on Feb. 20. ... A crew from China Central Television was on hand to film a documentary on the Sixers. The 45-minute segment will air in China with another one on the New York Knicks later this year. ... Carter was reduced to a cheerleading role in the second quarter when he sat for five minutes. He relished it, though, smiling and giving an exuberant thumbs-up when Wallace had the dunk of the night. Wallace caught a pass on the baseline, made one dribble, took off 10 feet from the basket and glided in for an impressive one-handed stuff that tied the game at 32.