Christmas Holiday Special: Allen Iverson vs. Kobe Bryant (2002) *1st game after NBA Final 2001
The Los Angeles Lakers proved they are more than a two-man team.
With Shaquille O'Neal on the injured list and Kobe Bryant struggling, the Lakers received significant contributions from others in rallying from a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter for an 88-82 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in a rematch of the 2001 NBA Finals.
Samaki Walker made the start at center and collected a season-high 18 points to go with 10 rebounds while Stanislav Medevedenko added 12 points for Los Angeles after O'Neal was placed on the injured list with toe problems.
"Well, that was a good win for our team," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "A lot of momentum in the second half, good defense and an enthusiastic crowd behind us is a big help for us."
Philadelphia was in control through the first three quarters and took a 73-60 advantage on a basket by Corie Blount with 9:34 remaining. Bryant had just four points on 2-of-14 shooting through three quarters as he was clearly hampered by a strained muscle in his rib cage.
But his jumper triggered a 19-2 run that gave Los Angeles the lead for good at 79-75 with 4:17 to play. Lindsey Hunter had a pair of 3-pointers in the burst, including one that gave the Lakers a 77-75 lead.
"I think defensively we turned it up a lot," Hunter said. "We limited them to one shots, created some turnovers. It was a really good defensive effort by everybody."
A basket by Dikembe Mutombo pulled the Sixers within 79-77 with 2:41 remaining before Bryant finally got his game untracked. He scored a pair of baskets and Robert Horry converted two foul shots to extend to 85-77 with 27 seconds to go.
"I was just waiting and pacing myself throughout the game for the right time to find my shots," Bryant said. "And it came in the fourth."
Philadelphia made one last charge as Matt Harpring's 3-pointer cut the deficit to 85-82 with 14 seconds left. Devean George made one free throw and Allen Iverson turned over the ball on the next possession to seal the Sixers' fate.
"We had this one in the bag," Iverson said. "We gave this one away. We gave them a gift, a Christmas gift."
Despite his struggles, Bryant just missed a triple-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Brian Shaw scored 13 points off the bench and Horry added 11 boards.
But the production of Walker and Medevedenko was a major surprise for two players who entered the contest averaging a combined 9.7 points. Walker made 7-of-9 shots while Medevedenko converted 6-of-8.
"Today I was a little more aggressive," Walker said. "I knew where to move and felt a lot more comfortable."
Iverson led all scorers with 31 points for Philadelphia, which was limited to six field goals in the fourth quarter. The Sixers committed seven of their 15 turnovers in the final quarter.
"We came out in the fourth quarter and made some driving plays and all of a sudden, we started shooting jumpers and they started making them," Sixers coach Larry Brown said. "We think we're going to outscore somebody and that's not how we play."
Mutombo had 12 points and 13 rebounds while Derrick Coleman also had a double-double with 12 and 10. But the Sixers dropped the opener of a seven-game Western Conference road trip and have lost six of seven on the road.
"We don't finish games out," Iverson said. "The stuff worked, we just had to stay with it. You have to keep playing defense, obviously. When stuff works, you have to keep doing it."
Perfect example of Iverson being a constant beast on the floor but there's only so much one man can do why Philly never put up the money to get him sufficient help we'll never know
U couldn't say it any better
Merry xmas
The departure of Pat Croce hurt the Sixers. After watching him as an analyst and a reporter for the NBA on NBC in the 2001-2002 season, the team wished they had him back.
If the trade for tmac to Philly in 99 would've went through that would've been a dynasty.
Shaq is injured and sits out. Kobe is is injured and plays through it; struggles throughout the game and hits some big shots late in the game to win the game👏🔥💜💛
back when it was difficult to score more than a hundred. iverson would average 40 in todays game.
No doubt about that indeed!
Rip kobe
A. I. YES WAS A BEAST
for the kids today who loves NBA I will tell you one of the reason how great Allen Iverson is.. even the officials (referees) bully him and making injustice calls and no calls just for the lose of Iverson team. he is the Uncrowned King of basketball unlike the huge muscular big guy and self proclaimed Goat Lebron James
Miss this 96 draft class match up
Pure Art
I miss this NBA and Walton, Snapper all of IT. Game was so good
Can't wait for the release of the Answer 5, this season made that sneaker memorable Thanks Penny!👍
Holy shit are you serious
The Legendary Chuck vs Tha Mamba
He played football on the basketball court! His hustle was second to none
The mamba!! Respect him.
AI is a beast
Kobe always seem to come up big in the most klutch moments.. RIP 🙏🏾
You gotta show some highlights of Matt Harpring and Samaki Walker lol
classic!
Kobe is level player Iverson is superstar
@Ron Gamboa The Disrespect is Real Cant Believe u Got The Nerve To Say Kobe a Level Player & A.i. Is A Superstar if that's The Case Kobe Bryant Was A Super-Superstar High Level Player Put On Some Better Respect On Kobe's Name When u Mention That Man He's Got Championship Rings No Credit Taken Away From A.i. Bcuz That's 1 of my favorite Back in the day player as well But u Should Know Better Saying Some Nonsense like That
Kobe was a SUPERSTAR already in 2000 u dummy 🤣
Do you see how fast this guy is going at 0:53, that's the fastest I've seen
He even faster in some clips
@@DblockTheillest I recall there was a rookie game of him vs MJ's bulls. He got a steal from his own basket and flew down the other end, will try to find that one.
@@yeon723 tag me in it
Iverson before the headband Kobe still with the Afro
Esto es. Como deve ser iverson es la makina de los ultumos tiempos en la. NBA
Pissed af they lost.. didn't even have Shaq
@Tyler Lynn Just Goes To Show How Good Kobe is Bcuz That's alot of pressure on Kobe Without Shaq
Kobe can do it without Shaq
It always been Shaq needed Kobe more then the opposite!
If you look at the numbers during the first three championships shaq dominated Kobe was just there for the ride
@@tenthirty82 Shaq had a far higher usage rate. Phil demanded Shaq get a look at all times possible. Phil has even admitted that it prevented Kobe from scoring nearly as much as he could have. 🥴
This is Christmas 2001. They met in Nba Finals of June 2001 so this game took place during December 2001.
beast ai
YES WAS THE BEST......
Damn AI runs nonstop
that liker just to much of Iverson I idugla .play o my home team. 🥉🕹️
August 6 2001
PHILADELPHIA PLAYED BETTER
2:06 block iverson ????
Kobe almost had a triple double playing with a sprained rib
Iverson better than Harden
Basketball is a team 5 players game, can't fault him, 1 man for not winning a ring. Philly had the chance to get Paul Pierce and Dirk Nowitzky and passed on it. Management wasn't good at team construction. Even without Shaq, they lost wow, @7:48-7:50 Kobe travelled, stepped off non pivot foot, but he stepped up
Xmas 2001
Actually this is 2001, because ABC picked up NBA rights in 2002.
08:00!
Strange why coach Larry Brown didn't invest in any Allstar supporting cast to help the Sixers and Iverson win Championships .. what was Larry Brown thinking ?
I think that was billy 👑
The departure of team president Pat Croce hurt the Sixers.
@@ericradford2142 tell me about it pat Croce had energy that has been missing
@@ericradford2142 a lot of politics in sports ..
August 11 2001 december 10 2001
August 11 2001 december 10 2001
His teammates were really a bunch of scrubs
NOW BY SITTING SHAQ OUT (PHANTOM INJURY), THAT WAS THA' LAKERS WAY OF SAYING THAT WE COULD'VE BEAT Y'ALL (PHILLY) IN THA' FINALS LAST YEAR ('01 BACK THEN) W/O THA' BIG DIESEL IN THA' PAINT! THAT'Z WHY I HAD FELT LIKE THA' SIXERS NEEDED TO WIN THIS ONE EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE ON THA' ROAD... BECAUSE IT WAS A STATEMENT GAME!
NBA is awful now in comparison to this era.
Chucky