Healthy grace versus hobbled grit

The Philadelphia 76ers, walking M.A.S.H. unit they've been, are still standing... within one game of the NBA Finals.

The Milwaukee Bucks, armed with quality shooters at nearly every position, have shown flashes of brilliance that also have them on the brink of a date with the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Sixers find a way to win. The Bucks know how they must win.

Philly battles and scraps. Milwaukee brings out the firepower from long range.

The Sixers, inept at times, fight for everything they can. The Bucks, passive at times, manage to assert themselves in must-win situations.

The stars of the two teams play differently and have been subjected to decidedly different criticisms: Ray Allen doesn't shoot enough, while Allen Iverson shoots way too much.

And now, the moment of truth: game seven.

No matter how you do the math, or ask the key questions, or speculate on what will happen, one thing seems pretty clear before this episode of Eastern Conference Armageddon: game seven will come down to the wire. As a result, the emotions that will flow through Philadelphia's First Union Center at approximately 10 p.m. Eastern time will be quite overwhelming.

Will the Sixers be able to add a little artistry and accuracy to their gutsy personality? Can the Bucks match Philly's hunger on the road, and play with the same chip on their shoulder they displayed in games two and six of the series?

Seeing these contrasting teams warring down the stretch, trying to come up with that winning edge, that key play, will offer live drama of the first order, the kind that makes televised sports the ultimate in reality TV.

The electricity surrounding this particular game 7 will be greater than most other game sevens because of the coaches.

The cathartic, over-the-hump moment of validation in George Karl's career came in a game 7 of a conference final, as his Seattle Sonics turned back the Utah Jazz in the seventh game of the 1996 West Finals. On that day, Karl's Sonics finally achieved what many had expected and demanded for quite some time: a trip to the finals. As Shawn Kemp made clutch free throws and Karl Malone missed them, a razor-close battle finally turned Seattle's way in the last minute. After the 90-86 win over the Jazz, the all-too-familiar mixture of relief and elation was apparent on Karl's face, as his Sonics finally hit the big show.

In this game 7, Karl will oppose a man who has also achieved much, but lacks an NBA Finals appearance on his coaching resume: Larry Brown. Considering all that his team has endured simply to get to this point, Brown would not only record his greatest professional coaching accomplishment if the Sixers win; Brown and his team would be in a position to play with a complete absence of pressure against the Lakers, secure in the knowledge that the 2001 season provided incredible results.

Brown, then, does not have quite the pressure to succeed that Karl did while in Seattle; nevertheless, being so close to an enormously important milestone with an incredibly gutsy ballclub would create a profound sense of disappointment in the Sixers' coach if the home team did not win this game seven. As tip-off time approaches, you can bet your bottom dollar that Larry Brown wants this decisive contest with all the passion and desperation shown by George Karl before game 7 of the 1996 West Finals.

The stage is set for two teams to venture beyond their normal methods in an attempt to win one last grueling confrontation. The contrasts between the teams, the stakes involved, and the individuals at the center of this series will combine to give the American public a sporting spectacle filled with rich literary and dramatic elements.

If you like the everyday drama of human life, you should love big-time sports in America. If you love big-time sports in America, you'll love the final minutes of a razor-close game seven in Philadelphia.