On this day in 2001: Allen Iverson leads Sixers to first NBA Finals since 1983

By Josh Liddick, Sports Talk Philly editor 

In what was one of the single-handed greatest performances in Sixers playoff history, Allen Iverson willed his team to the NBA Finals on this day, June 3, 2001. It took all the way until Game 7 for the Sixers to knock-off the Bucks after a grueling playoffs, but the team was on the verge of their first championship since 1983.

The Sixers had battled the Milwaukee Bucks all the way until that sudden-death deciding game, and the team had to rely almost solely on their superstar Iverson, as they did so much, to defeat Ray Allen and a tough Buck team.

With the help of Dikembe Mutombo in the post, the team played a very high-percentage game in the fourth quarter, eventually coming from a point of closeness to a point of takeover as the game came to a close.

Iverson had 44 points and seven assists on the night, and showed why he was at the top of the basketball world at that very moment.

Of course, the game 7 scoring success for "The Answer" would bleed over into the following game, where he would put up 48 points on the Lakers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, but for one night, and for the first time since 1983, the Sixers were champions in one way or another.

So on this day, we remember greatness in its finest form, in the form of Allen Iverson, arguably one of the greatest Philadelphia 76ers of all-time.