2001 ECSF G2: Allen Iverson (54pts) vs Vince Carter

2001 ECSF Game 2: Allen Iverson (54pts) drops playoff career high battling Vince Carter, puts city of Philadelphia on his back, ties series 1-1 with 97-92 W. The 2001 league MVP, 2001 All Star MVP, scoring champion, and league leader in steals certainly knew how to bring out the best in Mark Zumoff, the longtime Sixers play-by-play man. It was a season of change in the NBA. It was the first the league permitted players to wear knee-length shorts (although John Stockton chose to stick with the short-shorts). It was a season of parity, being the last 82-game season where no team won 60 games (Spurs won 58, Lakers and Sixers won 56). If you were to collect the height and weight from every player in the league and average them (as has been done), you would find that the '00-'01 season featured the tallest and heaviest players of any season in NBA history. Importantly, it was the final season before the league permitted zone defense. This meant that the abilities of players who excelled at one on one were magnified tremendously. The hand-check was also still allowed. I mentioned how AI led the league in scoring (31.1ppg) and steals (2.51spg). There's this notion that Iverson carried a team of bums to the Finals by himself; this is untrue. The league leader in rebounds that season was a Sixer, Dikembe Mutombo (13.5rpg), and the league leader in blocks was also a Sixer, Theo Ratliff (3.74bpg). The only non-Sixer that led the league in a basic stat category was Jason Kidd of the Suns (9.8apg). So in the East, the Sixers had the 1 seed and the Raptors the 5 seed. The Sixers lost Game 1 at home 96-93, with Carter dropping 35pts and Iverson 36pts. The Sixers needed Game 2 before heading to Toronto and AI answered the call with 54pts. Game 3, which I have an edit of, saw VC respond by dropping 50 in a rout. (If you want to see that, let me know and I'll tag you) The series went to Game 7 (which I also have an edit of), and it was won by the Sixers 88-87. The Sixers advanced and then beat Ray Allen and the Bucks in 7 games. ____ Iverson: 54pts (21-39) 5reb 4ast 1stl Carter: 28pts (12-26) 7reb 4ast 2stl 2blk 🎶: "One More Time" by Daft Punk was released November 30 2000.