LOS ANGELES -- Allen Iverson was offended by all that he'd heard and read since arriving in L.A. That his Sixers had no chance against the Lakers. That the beat-up Sixers would, at no point, even compete. That it was actually a good thing that the middle games were being played in Philadelphia, cutting down the chances of the post-championship rioting that occurred here in L.A. after the Lakers beat the Pacers in five games.

"Big time underdogs," Iverson said, drawing the words out for all to hear and understand. "It just makes you go that much harder."

Since a sweep is still possible in this series, all those Lakers fans that made a recent mad rush for brooms just might ship them to Philadelphia after Iverson scored 48 points (the most points ever in a finals debut) to help the Sixers beat the Lakers, 107-101, in overtime. A shock? Not for anyone who has followed the Sixers through their grueling playoff run.

The Sixers are not the Blazers, Kings or Spurs. Those teams, when the beatings got tough, just rolled over for the Lakers. The Sixers seem to always have a response for whatever adversity comes their way. So when they fell behind by 13 in the first quarter, they weren't concerned. How can you be concerned when you have a player like Iverson leading the way?

By halftime Iverson had 30 points, and midway through the third quarter he had 38. So what a guy named Tyronn Lue temporarily put the clamps on him, holding Iverson to three points in the final 19:55 of regulation (and keeping Iverson away from the ball in the final 18 seconds of regulation, when the Sixers had a chance to win)? In overtime Iverson delivered -- scoring seven straight points, with his three-pointer with 1:19 left giving the Sixers the lead for good. Said Lakers coach Phil Jackson of the three-pointer, "That was the knife that wounded us."

Wounded? Hey, Iverson was so upset about his team's perceived lack of chances that he was determined to put all those arrogant doubters completely out of commission.

"Anybody that betted on [a sweep], there's some broke people out there," Iverson said. "Some people got their feelings hurt. I'm glad nobody bet their life on it, cause they would definitely be dead right now."

You know what the Iverson haters are gonna say now, right? That Lue had him on lockdown ("He did a lot of holding, trying to keep me away from the ball," Iverson said). And that he took 41 shots so, of course, he's going to get 48 points.

But those haters need to get past any shallow distaste for the league's MVP, and discover what makes Iverson a truly special player: his ability to put his team in position to win. Never, in those 41 shot attempts, did you get the sense that Iverson was simply jacking it up. And his line from last night is pretty complete: 48 points (18 of 41 from the field), six assists, five rebounds, and five steals. Asked how he can launch so many shots (he nearly had half of Philly's 83 attempts) and exert so much energy on defense while playing all but one minute of an overtime game, Iverson said, "I've waited for this opportunity all my life. I'm not worried about fatigue."

For the Sixers, it's still an uphill battle to win this series. A battered team got even more bad news last night: Aaron McKie suffered a fracture in his foot (of course he'll play Game 2 ... a fractured bone is a minor injury on this team).

But the Sixers will find a way to battle. They will continue their aggressive defense to frustrate Kobe Bryant. They will hustle on defensive rotations to take away the easy looks of Derek Fisher (scoreless in game one). They will get contributions from unlikely sources (Matt Geiger and Raja Bell in game one). And they will even, on rare, rare occasions, do enough defensively to force Shaquille O'Neal out of the dunk zone.

And they'll win at least another game in this series -- and possibly more -- as long as Iverson's on the floor. Over his last three playoff games, Iverson has scored 48, 44 and 46 points -- dominating in a way that very few players can. Those numbers, alone, give the Sixers a shot.

"We came here to win, and I know it's probably hard for people to accept that," Iverson said. "We've been in dogfights, we've been in two game sevens. We understand that if you keep fighting, keep playing together, anything can happen."

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