Thursday, June 14 Sixers have no choice but to pitch perfect game By Wayne Drehs ESPN.com PHILADELPHIA -- Philadelphia 76ers center Matt Geiger has been elbowed, shoved and hip-checked by Shaquille O'Neal throughout the NBA Finals. He has had his shot blocked into the third row of seats. He has watched passes slip through his hands and sail out of bounds. But ask Geiger what's been most frustrating for him and he quickly replies, "Watching film." Laying bricks Allen Iverson scored 35 points Wednesday but shot just 12-of-30 from the floor. Iverson is shooting just under 39 percent from the floor in this postseason. That is the second-worst shooting performance of all-time for any player who averaged 30 or more points per game in one playoff year. Iverson has made just 52 of his 130 shots in the Finals. Year, Player Pct. PPG '49 George Mikan 38.3 31.3 '01 Allen Iverson 38.6 32.7 '66 Rick Barry 40.3 34.7 '65 Oscar Robertson 40.8 31.8 '61 E. Baylor 43.8 38.6 '64 Jerry West 44.2 40.6 There, Geiger and the rest of his teammates realize just how far they are from competing with the Lakers. They see O'Neal all but score at will in the post. They see themselves doubling O'Neal, only to watch him find an open teammate for a 3-pointer. They see their inability to score on offense. And they see that it might take nothing less than a perfect game for them to stay alive. "Whatever you want to call it, it better be much better than we have been playing," Geiger said. "I think we make too many mental errors. That team is too good to miss that many free throws and allow that many slashing layups and open 3's." The film study has been just as trying for coach Larry Brown, who must throw his hands into the air and wonder "What next?" after watching role players Ron Harper, Brian Shaw, Robert Horry and Tyronn Lue deliver the crushing blows in Game 4. "When I watched the game," Brown said, "I'm thinking, 'God, if Harper's gonna make jump shots, and Horry is going to go 3-for-3 from 3-point land, and Lue's gonna make two 3's, and Brian Shaw's gonna make a killer 3, then Shaq's Shaq and Kobe's Kobe, how we gonna win?' I'd say there'd be no chance." It's hardly the David vs. Goliath fire that the Sixers were breathing after their shocking 107-101 overtime victory in Game 1. In that game, Allen Iverson scored 48 points, the Philly bench chipped in 29 and the Lakers looked beatable, turning the ball over 19 times and shooting a mediocre 44 percent from the floor. But what a difference reality makes. Though the Sixers hung around in Games 2 and 3, they couldn't make the big shots when they counted, in part because of the effort it took to stay in the game. And then came the debacle that was Game 4, in which Iverson shot a miserable 12-of-30 and the Lakers got significant contributions from nine players in blowing out the Sixers. So does it take a perfect game? “ Maybe if we could get out to a significant lead for a change, we can start to put some of the pressure on them and then see how they respond." ” — Eric Snow, Sixers guard "At least near-perfect, especially if we are going to keep getting down by so many," said Sixers guard Eric Snow. "When that happens, they start getting in their comfort zone and then they knock down all of their open shots. Maybe if we could get out to a significant lead for a change, we can start to put some of the pressure on them and then see how they respond." Sixers guard Aaron McKie agrees, noting that getting behind early in games has caused the Sixers to make additional costly mistakes they hardly need. "Every little mistake that you make at that point is really going to be magnified because you almost have to play perfect, especially against a team like the Lakers, to try to fight your way back in the game," McKie said. "And we can't afford to do that." Because of those mistakes, reserve center Todd MacCulloch is unsure if Philadelphia is capable of perfection. "We need to play as close to a perfect game now, but we haven't played any perfect games all season," MacCulloch said. "With the way we've shot the ball, it hasn't been near perfect, but with our defense, we've been able to make certain mistakes. Against a championship-caliber team, though, you can't shoot poorly and put as much pressure as we do on our defense." Though the shooting struggles of Iverson have hurt the Sixers, nothing has been more troubling than the play of O'Neal, who not only has had his way under the basket, but has also managed to find the open man when double-teamed. In L.A.'s three wins, O'Neal has a combined 17 assists. "It's not like were triple-teaming him. We're only sending two guys and we're just doing a horrible job of rotating," Geiger said. "It's one thing if he were to kick it out, then they threw a pass, and another pass and another pass and then we had a guy flying at a shooter who just makes it. But for Shaq just to stand there and pick us apart ... we wouldn't have gotten here if our defense was that poor." Defensively, the Lakers have found a way to slow the elusive Iverson, denying him the ball on numerous possessions and forcing him to fight through layers of their defense on others. The league MVP is shooting just 40 percent from the field in the series, 28.6 percent from 3-point range. His 1.08 points-per-shot average is the third lowest among the 10 starters for both teams. And he's shooting just under 30 percent in the first quarter. Iverson blames O'Neal, the most menacing of presences inside the paint. "You got a guy that big just standing in the middle. He's clogging up the whole area," Iverson said. "Not much you can do about that. It kind of keeps people shooting outside. He's just so disruptive." And if the Sixers don't figure it out anytime soon, they will be heading home for the summer. "I'm looking forward to getting married this summer, but I can wait for it to come," Iverson said. "Believe me." He might not have much of a choice. Wayne Drehs is a staff writer for ESPN.com. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories

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