There's a lot of home schooling going on right now, so why not use some of this time to learn more about the history of your favorite teams? In this edition of Sixers Home School, we look back at the night Allen Iverson set a Sixers single-game playoff scoring record.
Allen Iverson wasn’t known for being efficient, but he sure was in the opening game of the 2003 playoffs.
He scored 55 points against the Hornets on 21 for 32 shooting (10 of 11 from the foul line), and also had eight assists, four rebounds and two steals. It’s tied for the sixth-most points ever in an NBA playoff game and is still the most by a Sixer — Wilt Chamberlain scored 56 in 1962 as a member of the Philadelphia Warriors. It doesn’t look like a record that will be broken anytime soon, with no player on the current Sixers roster ever having scored more than 49 points (Joel Embiid) in an NBA game.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Let’s highlight six plays from the video above:
At the 1:50 mark, Iverson finds a trailing Keith Van Horn, who knocks down a three-pointer. That would be the only three a Sixer besides Iverson made in the game. The other Sixers combined to shoot 15 for 45 (33.3 percent), and that mark was boosted by a 6-for-9 performance by Aaron McKie off the bench. This is a game the Sixers would have lost if Iverson was anything other than great.
''I didn't know what it would take for us to win,'' Iverson told reporters. ''Just playing the game like it was my last, that's the only thing I thought about and the only thing I think about before every game.''
NBA
3:58: Just listen to the “Ohhh!” from the crowd as Iverson dishes a leaping behind-the-back pass to Tyrone Hill, then waits a couple of seconds before finding Hill for a dunk. The fans were entranced.
4:10: The simplicity here catches your eye, and it’s familiar to anyone who watched Iverson in his prime on the Sixers. End of the quarter, give him a ball screen, let him go to work. He does just that, sinking a contested long two. Though he’d probably be pushed to shoot less of these kind of shots if he played in the modern NBA, his ability to use a screen and make something happen would be valuable in any era.
9:06: Iverson played off the defense’s expectations and took advantage of the attention he received very well. Here, McKie loops up to the top of the key and Iverson almost looks like he’s a high school football star again for a second, juking Stacey Augmon. With Augmon expecting him to move toward the baseline off Kenny Thomas’ screen, Iverson instead darts down the lane and lays it in off McKie's pass.
10:01: Marv Albert exclaims “What a move!” here, and he’s not wrong. With that said, notice how Iverson, after rejecting Van Horn’s screen, gives Augmon a little shove with his left arm to create space. Though he was at least half a foot shorter than Augmon, the skinny Iverson was excellent at shielding off defenders and even pushing them out of his air space when he thought he could get away with it.
11:14: The Sixers are up six up with 17.9 seconds to go — it’s clear they’re going to win the game at this point. Iverson has just scored points 54 and 55 by driving past former teammate George Lynch and floating the ball in over P.J. Brown off his right foot. He closes his eyes, raises his arms, puts a hand to his ear and proudly displays the "Sixers" logo on his chest. Though the Sixers would ultimately fall in the next round to the Pistons, losing Game 6 in overtime, this was the kind of night that made you believe Iverson could again carry the Sixers on a deep run.
Subscribe and rate Sixers Talk: Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | YouTube
Click here to download the MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Flyers, Sixers and Phillies games easily on your device.