Thursday, June 14 Lakers limit Iverson's Game 4 opportunities Associated Press PHILADELPHIA -- Allen Iverson stepped off the podium, walked over to his daughter and planted a kiss on her cheek. Iverson Five-year-old Tiaura wrapped her arms around her daddy and smothered him as tightly as Derek Fisher and Tyronn Lue did on the court. Iverson, frustrated by the defense of Fisher and Lue, scored 35 points on 12-of-30 shooting as the Philadelphia 76ers lost 100-86 to the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night. Iverson missed 15 of 21 shots in the first three quarters before scoring 16 in the fourth in a short-lived rally. "We're not going to give up," Iverson said. "We're going to keep fighting just like we fought this game. I'm happy with our effort. We don't just put our heads between our legs and give up when things go wrong." After Iverson's 3-pointer in the fourth quarter cut into a 17-point deficit, he picked up a miniature ball thrown on the court by a fan and heaved it deep into the seats. It was his best pass of the night. "It's been a long, tough year," Iverson said. "I'm 165 pounds, I've been beat up all year and I just thank God I'm able to play in a Game 4 with all the beatings I've taken all year, and I'm still taking them." The Lakers have a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. On the rare occasion when Iverson had an open look Wednesday, he still couldn't get a shot to fall through -- until the fourth. While O'Neal had 34 points and 14 rebounds and Kobe Bryant nearly registered a triple-double, it was the defense of Fisher and Lue that made the biggest impact at the other end. Iverson ran all around the floor, desperately trying to find open space. He found Fisher or Lue in his face most of the time. If he saw a clear path to the basket, O'Neal was there to at least alter his shot or force a pass. "That's the scheme of our defense," Lue said. "We want to push the defense at Iverson because he is a good shooter. We don't want to give him good looks and let him get in his rhythm." Iverson picked up a technical foul in the third quarter for arguing a non-call. "For anybody that has ever played this game, when you have small guys, big guys leaning on you, always chasing you, always putting a body on you, it gets frustrating," Fisher said. "His team was down, and that was probably most frustrating of all." Iverson finally got going in the fourth quarter, scoring six straight points as the Sixers cut a 22-point deficit to seven midway through the fourth. But Los Angeles responded with an 11-1 run, and Iverson missed a 3-pointer and a runner during the spurt. Since scoring 48 points during an overtime victory in Game 1, Iverson has shot 34-of-89 from the floor, including 5-of-20 from 3-point range. He's also missed 11 of 31 free throws since making all nine in the opener. Lue has given Iverson the most trouble. The speedy 6-footer got his chance in the third quarter of Game 1, and made the most of it. He played the final 22½ minutes and put the clamps on Iverson until overtime in that game. "He scored 35, didn't he?" Lue said. "We can't shut him down. We just try to limit his touches." Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories

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