Allen Iverson Highlight vs Knicks 98/99 NBA *76ers had a very tough defensive effort back then

If Patrick Ewing keeps missing shots down the stretch, the New York Knicks are going to miss the playoffs.
In a game defined by physical, sloppy play and a slew of blown opportunities, Ewing's miss of a potential running jumper with 23 seconds left allowed the Philadelphia 76ers to escape with a crucial 72-67 victory over the Knicks.
"This was a game we should have won," Ewing said. "We had our opportunities. We were right there, but we didn't make the right plays at the end."
Two free throws by Matt Geiger gave the 76ers a 69-67 lead with 36 seconds left and the Knicks ran a play for Ewing. Defended by Theo Ratliff, Ewing dribbled into the lane and launched an off-balance jumper that missed.
Ewing also missed a free throw with 1:35 to go that would have given the Knicks their first lead. This season, he has missed potential tying or winning shots in a pair of losses to Milwaukee and another to Miami.
Ratliff rebounded and was fouled but missed both free throws. However, teammate Aaron McKie beat Larry Johnson to the second miss and fed Allen Iverson, who was fouled but made just 1-of-2 with 17 seconds to go, giving the Knicks another chance.
Latrell Sprewell rebounded his own miss of a drive and the ball ended up in the hands of Allan Houston, who missed a potential tying 3-pointer. Philadelphia's Eric Snow sank two free throws to seal it.
"I kind of duoble-pumped," Houston said. "The defender kind of took my legs from under me a little bit. It looked like it was on line but it didn't feel good. I just didn't have my legs when I took the shot."
"I think we got a lot of breaks at the end," said Ratliff, who had eight points, 12 rebounds and five blocks.
New York has lost a season-high four straight games to drop to 21-21 and is tied with Charlotte (20-20) and Toronto (20-20) for ninth place in the Eastern Conference. Considered a title contender when the season started, the Knicks are in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 1987.
"We can only control one thing -- that's how we practice the next couple of days and how we play against the Hornets (on Friday)," Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "We're not looking down the road. We're looking to try to get a win, one win, and break this losing streak."
The Knicks shot just 34 percent (23-of-67) from the field and missed 11-of-29 free throws. Ewing scored 11 points on 3-of-8 and Houston was scoreless in the second half, finishing with 12.
Geiger scored 22 points and slumping Allen Iverson added 20 for the Sixers (22-19), who took sole possession of seventh place in the East, one game ahead of Cleveland. Philadelphia has not made the playoffs since 1991.
"We have to figure out how to be up for the next eight games and understand that every game is like a playoff game," Sixers coach Larry Brown said.
"We don't want to have to point the finger and say, `We hope this team loses,'" Geiger added. "If we do that, you almost don't deserve to be in the playoffs when you have to hope someone else loses. We want to try to take care of our own."
The Sixers won despite making no baskets in the final 7:20. They shot 39 percent (25-of-64) and committed 20 turnovers that led to 21 points for New York.
"It was a war," Brown said. "At times, I didn't think anyone could score but we hung on. We got some big stops. I'm just thrilled, it was a good win. Theo was phenomenal defensively."
The Knicks never trailed in beating the Sixers in the first two meetings between the teams but never led in this one. Their first tie came at 50-50 with 4:25 left in the third quarter on a pair of free throws by Sprewell, who scored 16 points.
Geiger made a jumper, rookie Larry Hughes tipped in a miss and Iverson and Ratliff made free throws to give Philadelphia a 56-50 lead as New York went scoreless for over five minutes.
"We tied it twice and then we turned the ball over twice," Van Gundy said. "Then we missed shots. We can finish, we're just not finishing now."
Consecutive jumpers by Tyrone Hill extended the lead to 62-54 with 8:38 to play and Iverson's free throws kept the advantage at 66-57 with 5 1/2 minutes to go before Philadelphia went cold.
Ewing scored six points in an 8-1 spurt that tied it. But twice during the run, he missed 1-of-2 free throws.
Hughes scored 10 points, Snow added eight and nine assists and the 6-foot Iverson grabbed nine rebounds for Philadelphia.
Coming off a 2-of-17 performance against New Jersey, Iverson made 6-of-17 shots. Over his last five games, he has given up the league scoring lead by averaging just 16.6 points -- nearly 10 below his norm -- while shooting just 29 percent.
"They did a pretty good job on Allen down the stretch," Brown said. "I told Allen before the game that we can win with him going 2-for-17, provided that we all defend and rebound. This was a game that shows that."

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