Bucks edge wounded Sixers

Ray Allen picked himself up to score 20 points

Milwaukee 80-74 Philadelphia
(Bucks lead best-of-seven series 2-1)

Milwaukee made hard work of beating injury-hit Philadelphia in the third game of the NBA Eastern Conference finals.

With the Sixers' key man Allen Iverson watching from his hotel room, the Bucks, who now lead the series 2-1, struggled to make their home court advantage count.

Iverson stayed at the team hotel to rest injuries to the base of his spine and left hip.

If the Sixers had decided to sacrifice the game to have a healthier Iverson for the remainder of the series, it did not show.

Leading scorer Cassell takes on oxygen

They held the Bucks to just four points over a nine and a half minutes of the fourth quarter.

The Sixers were within seven points with three and a half minutes left, and had three chances to get even closer but missed shots each time.

Aaron McKie hit two foul shots with 34.2 seconds left to make it a five-point game, but Sam Cassell hit a foul shot and McKie missed a three-pointer to end the suspense.

Iverson's call

Cassell scored 24 points, Ray Allen had 20 and Glenn Robinson 18 for the Bucks, while Ervin Johnson out-rebounded Dikembe Mutombo 13-10.

McKie scored 22 points and Jumaine Jones had 16 for Philadelphia, who hope to have Iverson back for game four on Monday.

After Iverson missed 21 of 26 shots in a loss to Milwaukee on Thursday, Philadelphia coach Larry Brown said he should rest.

"I left it up to him," Brown said. "I didn't think it was my place to make the decision for him. I'm proud of what he's done.

"I really appreciate the fact that he tried to play the first two games being as banged up as he was, and hopefully we'll get him well."

Bucks mascot Bango gets carried away

Brown came up with every gimmick he could, employing a full court press, using a two-centre, three-guard alignment and running his offense through the low post.

The strategies caused the Bucks difficulties which were compounded by their tendency to relax whenever they built up a lead.

Milwaukee went ahead 73-60 early in the fourth on a jumper by Allen, but then went over six minutes without scoring a point.

The Sixers pulled within six on a thee-pointer by Jones with 7:25 left, but failed to score on their next three possessions.

Robinson and Cassell hit jumpers to give the Bucks a 10-point lead with 4:18 remaining, and they were able to hold off Philadelphia despite failing to score again until 32 seconds remained.

The Sixers had only nine healthy players as Matt Geiger (quadriceps tendinitis) and George Lynch (broken foot) also were sidelined.

Snow replaced Iverson in the starting line-up and had a poor game.

He missed all seven of his shots in the first half and failed to stop Cassell from hitting three straight jumpers early in the third quarter.