76ERS INSIDE LOOK: SUMMER IN SIXERLAND PHILLY'S BENCH IS MAKING A NAME FOR ITSELF.

Byline: Kevin Modesti Staff Writer

PHILADELPHIA - Somebody called the Philadelphia 76ers the first Summer League team to play for the NBA championship.

Coach Larry Brown takes the insult and, with a firm twist, turns it into a compliment.

Brown calls it ``my Summer League lineup,'' the no-names he puts on the court when he calls in the subs.

Sunday night at the First Union Center, for the second NBA Finals game in a row, the 76ers bench played its role to the hilt - but couldn't prevent the Lakers from making off with a 96-91 victory and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

``If you'd told me I would play Kevin Ollie and Raja Bell and Todd MacCullough and Jumaine Jones for the world championship, I would have said you're crazy,'' Brown said. ``Maybe in 2008, and I probably wouldn't have been here.''

Brown's sixth through 10th men outscored the Lakers' bench for the third game in a row. It was 29-15 in Game 1, the 76ers' eye-opening victory at Staples Center, with Eric Snow's 13 and Matt Geiger's 10. It was 31-19 in Game 2, with MacCullough's 13 and Snow's 12. And it was 23-20 this time, with Snow getting 14.

This is nothing new for Lakers opponents, whose benches have outscored them in 10 of 14 postseason games.

Lot of good it has done any of them.

Sunday, Robert Horry, second off the Lakers bench, had 15 points, including the key last-minute 3-pointer, to deny the Philadelphia understudies their gritty glory.

The 76ers are forced to lean on the subs because the front line is, variously, fractured, sprained and bruised.

``This is the only way you can play the Lakers,'' Brown said with a verbal shrug. ``I said before the series, if people heard me, if Eric and Aaron (McKie) and George Lynch are healthy, the only way I think you can play them is have great ball defenders up the floor.''

Snow is playing on a fractured right ankle and McKie on a chipped right ankle. Lynch is sidelined with a broken foot but hoping to be available for Game 4 on Wednesday.

``I'm using some kids that are pretty good on-the-ball defenders, but because we're so short-handed, I've got to play some guys maybe a little too much,'' Brown said. ``And it shows. But, hey, we were in both these games 'cause of these guys. ... Think about who we're playing - it's pretty remarkable.

``This is a great series for people that love basketball. ... The great thing about it, aside from the stars like Allen (Iverson) having a marvelous series - and Kobe and Shaq - you've got kids that are stepping up in very difficult situations and performing at a high level.''

On the floor in the final minute were Ollie, a fourth-year guard who averaged 3.8 points in the regular season; Bell, a rookie guard from Florida International who averaged 1.0 after signing April 17; and Snow, the fifth-year guard, along with Iverson and McKie.

It was Ollie who got a rebound basket, was fouled and completed the three-point play to make it a one-point game with a minute left. Seconds later he watched Horry's 3-point shot kill the 76ers' chances.

``We had a lot of opportunities tonight (and) squandered them,'' Bell said. ``We didn't do some things when we needed to, didn't rotate fully (on defense) on that last jumper. ... It just cost us.''

Actually, the Philly subs are doing about as much as anybody could ask.

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Photo:

The Philadelphia Sixers' Matt Geiger fights Horace Grant, background, and Kobe Bryant for a loose ball on Sunday.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer