PHILADELPHIA -- After planting four or five kisses on his son, Allen Iverson slumped back in his chair in the Sixers' locker room and let out a huge sigh of relief. Then shaking his head side-to-side Iverson, a bandage on his lower left lip, started muttering to no one in particular, "That's what you call a war, that's what you call a war..."

Philadelphia's Allen Iverson holds his back after landing hard on the floor during the third quarter Sunday.

And in the finale of the seven-game war against the Raptors, Iverson demonstrated that he is, indeed, a true warrior. Taking a nasty fall on his back in the second half that actually had him considering asking out of the game, Iverson -- on a night where he shot poorly -- handed off a career playoff-high 16 assists. Six of those came in the fourth quarter, helping the Sixers survive a last-second miss by Vince Carter to beat the Raptors, 88-87, at the First Union Center.

One of the true signs of a great player is the ability to adapt. And Iverson, playing in pain that affected his ability to run through screens, adapted his game to be a set-up man. When the Raptors doubled -- a strategy that was effective in Game 6 -- Iverson simply hit the open man. Credit players such as Aaron McKie (22 points), Jumaine Jones (16 points) and Eric Snow (13 points) with hitting the open shots.

So a guy who has two 50-point games in the series, scores just two fourth-quarter points in the finale. And still the league's MVP dominated the game because in drawing double teams, he found himself delivering the ball to wide-open teammates. "I've been saying all along that if teams double me, it's up to my teammates to make them pay," Iverson said. "In a million years, I didn't think I'd come out and have a career playoff high in assists. But for the first time in my life I feel like I have a team, a team I feel can win a championship."

Are the Sixers good enough to win a title? That's debatable, considering the strength of the two Western Conference finalists, the Spurs and the Lakers. But the top-seeded Sixers showed growth in the opening round series. Back in Game 2 when Iverson scored 54 points, only one other Sixer scored in double-figures -- and Philadelphia appeared in trouble because of their one-dimensional nature. Since then players such as McKie, Jones (who made the first start of his career after George Lynch broke a bone in his left foot) and Snow have provided the assistance that has put the Sixers in the Eastern Conference finals.

Iverson, who played every minute of Sunday's game, will have to get well in a hurry for the next round, which begins Tuesday in Philly. The high-scoring Bucks love to run, meaning the next series could resemble a track meet.

The fall on his back was so serious that Iverson considered coming out of the game during a timeout after the injury. "It hurt so bad, but I knew after all the injuries that I went through this year that I couldn't get hurt and come out in a Game 7," Iverson said. "I thought about sitting out. But I looked in everybody's face while I was on the bench, then I walked over to the table to go back in the game."

The fact that Iverson, a known gunner, can come out with a 21-point, 16-assist game (the rest of the team had just six assists) is further validation of his winning the league's MVP award last week. There are better players in the league, but none is as valuable as Iverson is to the Sixers. "I've seen him grow, I've seen his game develop," Larry Brown said. "This is as good as he's been as a player. The fact that other teams put pressure on him, they spend so much energy doing it that it opens it up for other players."

If you think the 16 assists in the win will lead Iverson to become more of a set-up man, think again. His strategy was more due to Iverson not being 100 percent healthy to carry the load. If he's healthy for the opening game against the Bucks on Tuesday, look for Iverson to go back to his shoot-first mentality that strikes fear into opposing players. "My team wants me to stay aggressive and to keep making shots," Iverson said. "I miss 15 shots in a row and a guy backs off me, I'm going to shoot." Spoken like a true gunslinger.

Jerry Bembry is covering the NBA playoffs for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at jerry.bembry@espnmag.com.