Iverson Makes Magic Nervous

L.A. Times Archives

May 10, 1999 12 AM PT

From Associated Press

ORLANDO, Fla. — Allen Iverson, the NBA scoring champion, overcame a bad case of pregame jitters to score 30 points in the first playoff game of his career and lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 104-90 victory over the Orlando Magic on Sunday.

“You got anything bigger than butterflies?” Iverson asked, searching for the words to describe his anxiety. “I might have had a buzzard in my stomach.”

Iverson said he slept poorly and woke up hourly, beginning at 5:30 a.m., in anticipation of the team’s 9 a.m. breakfast. He’s always nervous before a game, but said realizing a lifelong dream of appearing in the playoffs made Sunday especially gut-wrenching.

“I heard he got 15 minutes of sleep last night. That was 15 more than I expected,” 76er Coach Larry Brown said, adding that the third-year pro’s playoff debut didn’t surprise him.

“I think he handles situations like this pretty well,” Brown said. “The only thing that I worry about is when he takes an individual challenge too much. I think he realizes now that he can just play.”

Iverson, who said he actually got more than 15 minutes of sleep, made 12 of 29 shots and finished with seven assists, five rebounds, two steals and six turnovers in 45 minutes.

When he wasn’t the answer for the 76ers, center Matt Geiger was. Geiger scored 12 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter and led an 11-0 run that Philadelphia used to pull away for good.

Geiger also had 10 rebounds, helping the 76ers compile a whopping 57-36 edge on the boards.

Iverson struggled after scoring 18 in the first half, missing 10 of his first 13 shots in the second half. But he held his composure and provided the basket that gave Philadelphia the lead for good midway through the fourth quarter.

“I’m still excited,” said Iverson, who at 6 feet became the smallest player in league history to win a scoring title, averaging 26.8 points. “I feel like I could play another 48 minutes. The crowd was against us, but it was great just playing in that kind of atmosphere.”

Penny Hardaway led Orlando with 19 points, but only three came in the second half. Nick Anderson added 18 and rookie Michael Doleac had 11.

The Magic tried four defenders on Iverson--Anderson, Hardaway, Darrell Armstrong and Matt Harpring--and none enjoyed much success.

When Orlando tried to double-team the scoring champion, Iverson did a good job of finding Geiger and other teammates. Magic Coach Chuck Daly is not sure the Magic can do much different defensively against him in Game 2 on Tuesday night.

“We’ve done about everything. And I think that regardless of what you do, he’s going to get 25 points . . . He’s really a genius with the basketball,” Daly said.

George Lynch had 15 points and 12 rebounds for the 76ers, who won two of three regular-season meetings against Orlando, which at 21-4 had the best home record in the Eastern Conference this year.

The Magic made only 34% of its shots in the first half but trailed only 50-47 at the intermission because of a 23-6 advantage from the foul line.

Attendance was announced as 15,267--1,981 shy of capacity.