THE STREAK IS STRUCK DOWN SIXERS WORK OVERTIME TO STUN LAKERS IN OPENER PHIL. 107, LAKERS 101.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

They pushed and they shoved, bullied their way through three playoff rounds, pillaged the West and cozied up to the history books. For two months, the Lakers conquered and ravaged the land like modern-day imperialists.

And then suddenly, they found themselves in a strange new world Wednesday night. The surroundings were decidedly uncomfortable.

Their gaudy winning streak, gone. Their mystique, cracked. And the swagger of a history-making, sweep-taking, dynasty-in-the-making powerhouse now looks more like a bad limp.

The Philadelphia 76ers stunned the Lakers with a 107-101 overtime victory in the NBA Finals opener at Staples Center, stealing home-court advantage and putting a stop to about a half-dozen streaks.

The Lakers' pursuit of an unbeaten postseason is over. Their 19-game winning streak is gone. History will have to wait.

``I'm kind of relieved that it's over in some ways,'' said Lakers coach Phil Jackson. ``The streak was great. Now it's time to get back to the business about playing ball in this series.''

It was the Lakers' first defeat since April 1, their first playoff loss since Game 5 of the 2000 Finals last June. They were denied a bid to tie the NBA's longest postseason winning streak and to become the first team ever to start the playoffs 12-0.

For that, they can blame Allen Iverson.

The league MVP proved too much for the Lakers' guards to handle as he weaved his way to a 48-point game, hitting 18 of 41 shots. His energy put the Lakers on their heels early, and they spent most of the game playing from behind.

Shaquille O'Neal answered the Answer with 44 points and 20 rebounds --his third 40-20 game of the playoffs -- but it was not enough. O'Neal missed four consecutive free throws late in the fourth quarter, stunting a Lakers rally, and missed another in overtime.

Kobe Bryant, harassed by Aaron McKie and Eric Snow, played his worst game of the postseason, finishing with 15 points on 7-of-22 shooting and six turnovers.

``We just have to regroup,'' O'Neal said. ``We'll just blame it on one of those games for us. Now it's a series.''

The Lakers scored the first 5 points of overtime to take a 99-94 lead,but they fell apart from there. Raja Bell hit a 6-foot left-handed scoop shot, Iverson hit a 3-pointer and the 76ers took a 101-99 lead. Then Rick Fox overthrew O'Neal for a turnover, leading to an Iverson jumper, and the Lakers could not recover.

The Lakers trailed for the entire second half until a Bryant 18-foot jumper tied the game at 92-92 with 3:30 left to play. Then Bryant drove the lane and dished to O'Neal for a dunk and a 94-92 lead.

But Snow came back with an ofalance running jumper to tie the game again. The Lakers' last two possessions of regulation ended with a Robert Horry miss and a Bryant turnover. Snow misfired on a 3-pointer at the final buzzer to force overtime.

Down 6 points at halftime, the Lakers fell behind by 15 points in the third quarter, their largest deficit of the postseason. Iverson already had 38 points, and the Lakers looked helpless to stop him.

Cue the Lue. Jackson sent 6-0 speedster Tyronn Lue into the game for Derek Fisher, and the Lakers feasted on his frenetic energy.

O'Neal dunked. Hard. Then he hit a turnaround jumper. Then Lue picked off an Eric Snow pass, leading to another O'Neal dunk.

By the time Bryant spun into the lane for a nifty finger roll, the Lakers had a 10-2 run. Another Lue steal, another six points from O'Neal and a Bryant block of Iverson, and the Lakers had cut the deficit to 79-77 by the end of the third quarter.

O'Neal scored 18 points in the period, making 7 of 10 shots.

For the first 8 minutes or so after tipoff, it was all so perfectly Laker-like. Nine days off or not, they still had that charmed look about them: O'Neal dunking on the break, Fox hitting open 3-pointers, the Staples crowd chanting ``M-V-P'' as O'Neal stepped to the foul line, and as the home team built a 21-9 lead.

But then the actual MVP swung back, and hard.

Iverson, who started the game 1 for 5 and had consecutive shots blocked by Bryant, came to life. The diminutive scoring machine hit fadeaway after fadeaway, sparking a 76ers rally that knocked the deficit down to 23-22 by the end of the first quarter.

He never let up after that.

By halftime, Iverson had jacked the ball up 24 times (more than O'Neal and Bryant combined) and made 11 baskets. He also converted all seven of his foul shots and had 30 points by halftime, as the 76ers took a 56-50 lead.

Matt Geiger, who scored 12 points in the first three rounds combined, surprised the Lakers with an 8-point first half, making 4 of 6 field goals.

It was Bryant who had the Iverson-like shooting line in the first half-- 2 for 10 from the field. He had more turnovers (five) than points (four). But O'Neal had 18 points and Fox chipped in 15 to make up the difference.

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, 4 boxes

Photo:

(1) Allen Iverson ran up, down and, here, around Shaquille O'Neal and the Lakers in Game 1 at Staples Center, putting up 48 points in a 107-101 overtime victory that ended the Lakers' 19-game winning streak.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer

(2) no caption (Allen Iverson)

(3) no caption (Kobe Bryant)

(4) no caption (June 7, 2001, Sports section)

Box: (1) THE HERO

(2) THE GOAT

(3) THE KEY

(4) GAME RECAP