Allen Iverson 41pts Kukoc vs Payton Sonics 00/01 MVP NBA
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- čas přidán 20. 08. 2024
- Toni Kukoc played perhaps his best game of the season and so did the Philadelphia 76ers.
Kukoc scored 19 points in support of Allen Iverson's 41 and the 76ers roared to a season high in their fifth straight victory, a 121-89 rout of the Seattle SuperSonics.
"Toni Kukoc played like we expected him to play every game," Iverson said. "We need a lot of that from Toni. He's one of those special players that can change a game."
While the 76ers have maintained the best record in the NBA this season, they have done so with little help from Kukoc, who has struggled to find his niche in the offense since being acquired in a trade last February.
"When I don't play much or play well, I still get upset," Kukoc said. "I go home and think about what I can do better to improve, and stay in the game longer."
A former Sixth Man Award winner and a member of Chicago's three championship teams from 1996-98, Kukoc came in averaging just 7.2 points per game. He surpassed that in the second quarter, when he scored 10 points and fueled a game-breaking run.
Kukoc made 8-of-9 shots in 21 minutes off the bench, surpassing his point total for the last three games combined. He helped the Sixers shoot 53 percent (47-of-89) and post season highs in points and victory margin.
"It's great when you can shoot 90 percent from the floor," Kukoc said. "I don't know how many nights you're going to shoot like that but this helps my confidence and helps the team as well.
When I get involved early in the game, it opens up the floor for Allen and the big guys in the middle."
Iverson continued his scoring binge, making 15-of-30 shots and 9-of-9 free throws as he had his way with defensive standout Gary Payton. Since returning from a one-game absence due to a partially separated shoulder, he is averaging 34.3 points in four games.
Since Iverson entered the NBA in 1996, Philadelphia is 8-11 when he scores 40 or more points.
"That's what he does, put points on the board," backcourt mate Aaron McKie said. "When Allen is playing like that, at a high level, everybody else picks it up."
Rashard Lewis scored 14 points for the SuperSonics, who shot 42 percent (35-of-84) and were pounded on the boards, 48-37. They dropped to 0-2 on a five-game road trip and have lost three in a row to the Sixers.
"If you're not giving an effort and you're not focusing or concentrating on what you need to do to play this game, you will get embarrassed the way we did," Sonics coach Nate McMillan said. "There's some negative energy on this team. Until we put this team first and give the effort that it takes in order for us to win, we will be faced with this situation a lot more."
The Sonics hung around for a quarter as Iverson scored 12 points to give the Sixers a 32-26 lead. Kukoc came on and scored eight points in a 15-2 burst that opened the second period. A layup by McKie gave Philadelphia a 47-28 lead with 6:26 left in the first half.
Todd MacCulloch had a pair of hoops in a 9-1 spurt that closed the quarter and opened a 64-41 halftime bulge. MacCulloch had 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
Philadelphia shot 57 percent (27-of-47) in the first half and kept it up in the third quarter. Iverson scored 11 points in the period, helping to widen the lead to 90-64.
The Sixers could have gone scoreless in the fourth quarter and still won but tallied 31 points for their highest total in a regulation game since Iverson debuted five years ago.
"When I first got here, Pat (owner Pat Croce) and I talked about us having something special here," Iverson said. "And right now, from the looks of things, it's keeps getting better for us."
McKie scored 10 points, Tyrone Hill added eight and 11 rebounds and Theo Ratliff eight and five blocks for Philadelphia (23-8), which has eight wins by 18 points or more and is 11-0 when it holds foes below 100 points.
"Allen was terrific again, Toni goes 8-for-9 off the bench, Todd goes 6-of-9, Aaron was solid," Sixers coach Larry Brown said. "We played great. You don't beat a team like Seattle unless you played your best. I think we played our best." - Sport
Kukoc is the ultimate complimentary team mate to isolation players like Michael and Iverson.
He is always an outside and slashing threat and an excellent passer. Qualities that opens up the defense for MJ and i3 to attack the basket.
A.I. u just can't but love his game
00/01 was the year that literally Iverson, vince carter , tracy mcgrady , kobe bryant , kevin garnett , dirk Nowitzki and others all really exploded into their primes . Early 2000 had the best core perimeter scorers as a whole we'd ever seen. Than you still had guys like ray Allen in his prime paul pierce , baron davis Jerry stackhouse even Jamal mashburn all these dudes were sick
What were the 76ers thinking when they traded Toni Kukoc for Dikembe Mutumbo in the 00-01 season. In my opinion if the 76ers kept Toni Kukoc, they would have stood a better chance of beating L.A. in the 2001 Finals.
this was the game before he dropped 54 on the cavs. the craziest 54 i've ever seen in person.
the glove had some holes that night
with kukoc on this final, i think that this series will be totally diferent. 4-3.
if only kukoc played in finals aginst lakers je would helped AI
Your English sucks
0:19 good block
totally agree with you, kukoc helps this team to clasified and later they traded to altanta , mutumbo was a great player and is a legend but kukoc wiil represented a better change to win this series .
@blab123oida. Well said man. People need to remember Kukoc was the 6th man of the yr in 1995-96 72-10 Bulls team and went off for 30+ PTS on many nights, heck a lot of times it was KUKOC BAILING OUT MJ AND PIPPEN. I always felt that he could be a consistent 20 PPG scorer if being a first-second option. ANd LArry Brown is a weird coach at times---he must have forgot how Kukoc's Defense improved big time in his yrs in Chicago.
i never knew ewing was in seattle
@peskelj. I too thought that was a dumb trade. In the NBA Finals the 76ers lacked offensive firepower outside of Iverson to stay up with the Lakers. Heck even Ratliff was a leaper and could have been a threat with his alley oops. Obviously Kukoc would have given them another guy capable of scoring 20+ PPG, which would have freed up A.I. even more. Lakers probably still win but the series goes to 7 instead of 5 games and Game 1 was all A.I. winning it.
If the GM billy king would've managed to trade for mutumbo without giving up kukoc and maybe just draft picks and Ratliff instead, Philly probably would have won the title. The spacing that kukoc gave Iverson on the court made him unstoppable
If Ratliff no injured, Sixers had a better roster to go to finals. Lakers should won the ring maybe but maybe for 6 ir 7 games
People bash his fg %s but dont realize he HAD to shoot 30 times a game. Media asked larry brown once why he allowed it and he basically said fir us to win we play defense rebound and allen must shoot until his arms are numb. Not only that Iverson was fearless. Ton of heart . Clutch. A good on ball defender but ELITE playing the pass lanes with the fastest hands I've ever seen
yea that was the best move i've seen in a while.
wow...i forgot patrick ewing played for seattle
i am a bit dissapointed with denver this season...but not with ai....ai proved all this years that a short guy can be on the 3 first all time scoring athletes in the nba....
Those are definitely good old days.....at first i thought denver nuggets will be unstoppable after he was traded to nuggets....but......the result is just very sad to me....very disappointed result...but i
will still support denver nuggets....
A.I was given it 2 payton lol..
Mutombo won defensive player of the year that season. And they needed a big man to battle Shaq. Turns out even Mutombo wasn't good enough.
only idiot would give kukoc and ratliff for mutombo. They lost the only player in that era who cold play a point guard and the center ( kukoc) , and the best blocker in the league (retliff) for an old player like mutombo. Mutombo managed to replace Theo but no one could replace the offensive flow that Tony brings to his teams.... Then it was all up to allen in sixers attack........ it was a shame couse i hated lakers back then.
ALL-TIME NBA SCORING LEADERS (PPG)
1. Michael Jordan 30.1
1. Wilt Chamberlain 30.1
3. Allen Iverson 27.8
4. Elgin Baylor 27.4
5. Jerry West 27.0
6. Shaquille O'Neal 26.5
7. Bob Pettit 26.4
8. George Gervin 26.2
9. Oscar Robertson 25.7
10. Karl Malone 25.0
exactly. I know 4 a fact that if iverson was traded for kobe, the lakers would be the BEST team in the league.
@bigmelo19. To me it seemed like THE GLOVE's best yrs defensively were from 93-98. He was still great from 99-03 but had his best performances from the mid-late 90s.
@slvrangel4 mutombo and iverson are what got us to the finals, we felt like we could win it all that year, you def weren't going to win with an injured ratliff on the bench
Kobe got his points off Shaq being double teamed,he was never the main option when LA was winning.What has he done since Shaq? nothing but an MVP and some scoring titles..thats it jus like what was said about Iverson. If you actualy watched these clips, Iverson did more than just score for the sixers,he got key steals,passed the ball,believed in his teammates,and was clutch for his team.He gave in to the team concept and still won MVP and led the league in scoring...watch the games BUGRAY08
@bossu3konn. Nicely said. I agree with everything you said.
@3:28 it looks like he said "shit !"
And he said that.
@JZ2001JC agree
no?
i believe tat was a six-player deal, tats wat i heard .
it wasnt a kukoc for muttumbo trade .
and ya maybe they stand a better chance at it .
maybe ratliff can guard shaq?
why did they lose when even the 2nd all-time leading scorer is on their team back in 03/04?
tats crazy ..
i mean u have kobe and shaq, one of the most powerful 1 2 combos in the league and karl malone, 2nd all-time leading scorer, why did they lose??
Karl Malone got hurt in the playoffs. They would've won if it wasn't for that
1:11
Imagine if he practiced...lol..much respect do...Answer
iversoon wass unsopablee those dayss! amazing how people feard this 6ft player! ai owned owns and will own !
its really sad to watch these clips and then go to espn or something and AI cant even find a team now. the press gives him too much sht.. i really think he can score 20+ easy for any team, and even off the bench
this year he just need to lose weight so u can get his speed back ... he really does need PRACTICE NOW lol
Gary Payton was a better defender than Jordan, but he couldn't guard A.I. at all
At no age could Payton guard Iverson. G.P.is one of my favorite, but quick guards with quick crossovers were his biggest weakness ass a defender. Actually his only weakness haha
Iverson's go to move offensively had already been made illegal by this time. Making up excuses is not a good look. A true competitor doesnt make or take excuses for their shortcomings. Its insult to Peyton and Iverson cut it out.
Again, at no time, age, or condition could Payton guard Iverson. Age, back, and speed don't make you get crossed, simple
+Agent of Chaos speed yes back no. If he was that bothered he wouldnt have contued his career another 5 years. When Magic "got sick" he retired. Jordan retired twice yet was still able to take a team to the playoffs and be the oldest player to drop 40. True competitors don't make or take excuses, its an insult to their greatness. If you come to take credit away from Iverson's skill to imply he'd be stopped complete by a prime Peyton you need to quit watching basketball.
+Agent of Chaos BTW don't even bother with the speed argument AI was the fastest player in the league soon as he got drafted. A.I. is faster than a prime Payton on his worst day.