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SECTION TUESDAY, MAY 29, 2001 www.philly.com The NBA Eastern Conference Finals A (TMIUU A bleeding Iverson helps Sixers beat Bucks 1 i i ft 1 V. 4 By Stephen A. Smith INQUIRER STAFF WRITER MILWAUKEE The Milwaukee Bucks, a team filled with finesse players, decided to play a physical game last night against a 76ers team seasoned for such encounters. It was like going against a tank with a handgun. Allen Iverson had returned to swing the momentum toward the Sixers, who rode his game-high 28 points, plus two key baskets and a steal in the closing moments, to escape Milwaukee's Bradley Center with a heart-stopping 89-83 victory over the Bucks in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals.

With a bloody mouth, courtesy of an elbow from Ray Allen with 2 minutes, 2 seconds remaining, Iverson went for the kill. He assisted guard Eric Snow in freezing Glenn Robinson with a crucial steal with 1:09 left, pinched blood from the Bucks with a fastbreak layup just two seconds later, and prevented Milwaukee's last chance at possible victory by stealing the inbounds pass from Tim Thomas with 1:05 left. In the process, he put the Bucks' playoff lives in jeopardy. The series is tied at two games apiece, with Game 5 scheduled for 9 tomorrow night at the First Union Center. A Sixers win would push the Bucks to the brink of playoff elimination on Friday.

Just hours before last night's game, the same was being said about the Sixers. "The game took a lot out of me," said Iverson, who was still struggling because of a severe tailbone bruise that forced him to miss Game 3 on Saturday. "Coming into the game, I knew I would feel bad after the game. But my heart feels good right now. That's important." Probably because Iverson and his teammates showed heart when it counted most.

Intelligence didn't hurt, either. Iverson finished the evening shooting 10 for 32 from the field, attacking with the ferocity for which he is known. Sixers forward Tyrone Hill, preoccupied by the health of his diabetic father who is hospitalized, was able to shift his focus to this crucial game. He scored 14 points and hauled down six rebounds, shooting 7 of 14 from the field in 37 minutes. Center Dikembe Mutombo recorded 17 points, 15 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.

Aaron See 76ERS on D6 76ers 89 Bucks 83 Series tied, 2-2 Game 5: Tomorrow at First Union Center, 9, Channel 10 They said it "I planned to play with a lot of pain. Every time I pushed off it, 1 had problems. But I tried to play through it as best I could." 76ers guard Alien Iverson on playing with a bruised tailbone "It was a remarkable performance, just being out there. If I had my druthers, I'd have taken him out late in the game, but that wasn't going to happen." 76ers coach Larry Brown on Iverson's return "Gut check, and they came out strong." Sixers president Pat Croce "We gave them some things. As the series goes on, we won't make the same mistakes." Bucks coach George Karl "Him just being there motivated us all." Sixers center Dikembe Mutombo on Iverson's return "A lot of people doubt Allen Iverson, but his teammates never do." Sixers forward Jumaine Jones "The game was physical, and the team that was more physical got the call." George Karl "Don't let a little blood scare you.

It's just a tooth. They didn't pull his heart out." Sixers guard Aaron McKie on Iverson getting smacked in the mouth "I was trying to stop the bleeding, but it wouldn't stop. So I just kept my mouth closed and swallowed the blood." Allen Iverson Inside After a great Game 4, Tyrone Hill says he'll be there on Wednesday. D4. II Dikembe Mutombo virtually eliminated the interior from Milwaukee's options.

D4. Glenn Robinson believes he is being adversely judged by his reputation. D5. JEHRY LODRIGUSS Inquirer Staff Photographer The Sixers' Allen Iverson, driving between Milwaukee's Scott Williams and Lindsey Hunter, scored 28 points in the Sixers' 89-83 victory in Game 4. Iverson bounces up and the 76ers bounce back MILWAUKEE He took an elbow to the chops, a hip to the ribs, a knee to belly.

And still he kept coming. He got a bloody mouth and a loosened tooth. And still he kept coming. He kept his mouth shut tight so the referees wouldn't see him 4 mm 7 -I rf J. bleeding and make him leave the game.

And when the blood built up, he just swallowed it. And still he kept coming. He ricocheted around like one of those car-crash test dummies. And still he kept coming. He absorbed fouls both accidental and premeditated, grazing and head- .1" Thus are the Sixers risen.

Back from the dead yet again. Resurrected by the Littlest Warrior. They have won the road game they absolutely needed, they have made the series all even, they have regained home court, they have crept within two wins of the NBA finals, and they have exposed the Bucks' vulnerability, which is no taste at all for the physical. And in doing this the Sixers reaffirmed their wondrous resiliency. They played voracious defense and, for the second straight game, muffled the Bucks, holding them to 83 this time.

Tethered to his hotel bed while his team played its guts out and almost pulled off the upset on Saturday, Iverson came back at what looked to be 75, maybe 80, percent of capacity. But his heart was huge as ever. In fact, it may have grown. He manufactured 28 points for a team starved for offense. He got off 32 shots and made only 10 of them.

The early misses you can attribute to rust and adrenaline, the later ones to fatigue and the accompanying loss of leg lift. a See GAME 4 on DO Bill Lyon JERRY LODRIGUSS Inquirer Staff Photographer Allen Iverson lies on the court bleeding from the mouth but unbowed after a collision during the fourth quarter. He scored 1 1 of the Sixers' final 1 3 points last night. on, inadvertent and suspicious, and he was sent sprawling to the deck again and again, and he was warned there was more of that awaiting him. And still he kept coming.

Allen Iverson would tuck his head and slash into the thick of the flak and the shrapnel and the bombs bursting in air, and he would cither get off a shot or enable someone else to get one, and all the time towed them past the timid Bucks with his scoring and his valor and his extraordinary capacity for pain. If you were on his team and watching him, you would have been willing to take a bullet, so inspiring was he. the bewildered Bucks of Milwaukee were wondering: Why won't he stay down? If ever fearlessness won a basketball game, it won this one. Iverson tied the 76ers to his mangled tailbone like a kite string and then.