Sixers slip past Bucks, take 3-2 lead

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Several hours before he became Philadelphia's latest hobbled hero, Eric Snow sat down with his surgeon and the team doctor to hear the latest news about his ankle.

It was fractured, not sprained as originally believed, and further stress might cause a problem. Disregarding his wife's wishes, Snow decided to play.

"I just wanted to give it a go and try to see what I could do, and I was fortunate enough to make a big contribution," said Snow, who made his team's final two baskets in the 76ers' 89-88 victory, giving them a 3-2 lead over the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference finals.

Snow shot 7-for-9 and scored 18 points, nearly duplicating his output from the first four games, in which he scored a total of 20 points.

Dikembe Mutombo had his best game of the series with 21 points, 13 rebounds and 9-for-9 shooting from the foul line, while Aaron McKie added 15 points and had four of Philadelphia's 13 steals.

Taken together, those contributions helped the Sixers overcome another poor shooting performance by Allen Iverson, who shot 5-for-27.

Snow turned his ankle in Game 4, and he found out Wednesday that in addition to a sprain he also has a hairline fracture of the ankle running perpendicular to a 2-inch screw that was inserted after a previous fracture.

Snow risks breaking the screw or further displacing the fracture, and the team doctors did not recommend one way or the other whether he should play. He wore a special brace on the ankle besides heavy tape to protect it from a 90-degree turn.

"I was looking at his X-rays, and I was shaking my head at how he already has a screw in his foot, then I saw the size of the fracture," Iverson said. "I said myself that I'm proud to be a part of this - everyone laying it on the line."

Philadelphia's victory wasn't assured until Glenn Robinson missed a 10-footer from the baseline and Ray Allen missed a tip-in at the buzzer.

The series resumes Friday night at Milwaukee, where the 76ers will try to advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1983 and face the Los Angeles Lakers.

Teams that have taken a 3-2 lead have gone on to win a best-of-seven series 83 percent of the time.

Robinson had 22 points, Allen added 20 and Sam Cassell had 18 for the Bucks, who allowed the 76ers to come back from an early 16-point deficit.

What hurt them the most was two four-point possessions and one five-point possession by Philadelphia after they picked up two untimely flagrant fouls and one technical foul.

Those 13 points ended up being huge for the 76ers, who shot just 37 percent from the field and turned the ball over 14 times.

Milwaukee scored four straight points to take an 86-85 lead before Snow hit a wide-open jumper from 15 feet. After Tim Thomas threw the ball away following an offensive rebound, Snow hit a 20-footer to make it 89-86 with 31.7 seconds left.

"He doesn't miss shots like that at the end of fourth quarters," Robinson said. "I'll give him that shot every time in the first, second or third quarter."

Milwaukee's Jason Caffey scored from the lane with 18 seconds left, and the Bucks fouled McKie with 13.9 to go. The 76ers had made 25 of 26 free throws to that point, but McKie was short on both attempts.

Milwaukee got the ball to Robinson for a good shot, but it wouldn't go - and neither would Allen's tip.

"It never should have come down to that," Robinson said. "We basically gave them 10 points. We have to make sure that if we go down, we go down playing the right way."

Iverson finished the first quarter shooting 2-for-10, and he missed all three of his shots in the second quarter. Mutombo (13 points) and Snow (10 points) kept the 76ers within striking distance through the second quarter.

Iverson missed a wide-open corner jumper early in the third quarter, making him 2-for-18 from the field, and things seemed to be going Milwaukee's way as Cassell hit consecutive jumpers over Iverson for a 63-55 lead.

Moments later, though, Cassell fouled Iverson on a 3-point attempt and picked up a technical foul for arguing. Iverson hit all four free throws, Mutombo converted a hook shot and Iverson finally hit a jumper - making him 3-for-20 - to tie it at 63-all with 2:40 left in the third.

It was a tight game the rest of the way, and the 76ers barely prevailed.

"Even though Philly won this game, they will probably chalk it up as a loss because we outplayed them," Robinson said. "We played better. If we continue to play this well, we will win the series."

Notes: Robinson, who complained that he hadn't attempted a foul shot in the first four games, went to the line with 7:36 left in the first quarter, but missed his first attempt. ... Mutombo and Iverson had plenty of Georgetown supporters in the stands with Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning and John Thompson in the building. ... Mutombo led the team in scoring for the first time this postseason. ... Iverson' 15 points were his low for this year's playoffs.