Give Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers a lot of credit. They showed Monday that Rocky wasn't the last tough guy to come out of Philly after all.

Iverson played 47 minutes with a sore tailbone, and the last couple minutes swallowing blood after taking a Ray Allen elbow in the mouth. He scored a game-high 28 points even though he made only 10 of 32 shots.

Several other Sixers played tough basketball as they turned in an 89-83 win at the Bradley Center that brings the series back to Philadelphia Wednesday night tied 2-2.

But, make no mistake about it, the Bucks blew their cool when they needed it most. It culminated with a double technical and ejection of Glenn Robinson with 58.8 seconds left.

Big Dog's frustration was just the last example of several where the Bucks lost their composure and made bad plays. From the third quarter on, the Bucks either forced shots or made ill-advised passes. They had defensive breakdowns. In the third quarter, the Sixers outscored the Bucks 29-20 to take a 69-62 lead into the final 12 minutes.

After creeping to within a point, at 74-73 in the fourth quarter, the Bucks fiddled with the ball too long and were called for a shot clock turnover with 7:59 left. With 3:23 left, Robinson committed a costly turnover.

Then, with 1:09 remaining, Robinson lost the ball. The Sixers' Eric Snow grabbed it and hit Iverson with a pass for a breakaway layup that basically iced it at 84-77. Robinson thought he should have gotten a foul call and kept complaining to the point where he picked up the two technicals and was ejected.

"I haven't taken a free throw in this series," Robinson complained after the game. "In four games, you would think after taking the number of shots I do that I would get a call."

Coach George Karl added, "I thought, for me, there was some frustration in the calls we got, turnover situations, missed shot situations. Managing frustration is part of our team. Did we do as good a job of it as we have in other situations over the year? No. But, Philly did what they had to do to win."

Center Ervin Johnson said the Bucks primarily lost their composure on defense. "When we miss our shots, we have a tendency to lose our focus," he said. "I thought that happened a little. We had too many defensive breakdowns. We have to play better at that in the next game in Philly."

Tyrone Hill continues to face the health problems of his father. When he was a Buck, team owner Herb Kohl would give Hill the use of a private plane to periodically fly to Cincinnati where his father was facing a chronic illness.

Hill, now a 76er, almost missed Monday's game because his father has suffered a stroke. Instead, he stayed and scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds.

"Ty left practice yesterday and went back to the hotel," Philadelphia coach Larry Brown said. "I had somebody get him, and I told him, 'if it's serious enough, go to be with your family. But, if you think it can wait until after this game, stay with your family here'."

Hill said he was torn. "I've been going through this for a long time. It's hard to concentrate at times, but this was one of the biggest games of my career and my family understood."

When he was traded from the Bucks, Hill disappointed some people by ripping the Bucks' organization and the community despite the support they had shown him with his father. He still deserves credit for playing a tough, gutsy game under adverse conditions Monday.

Iverson for playing hurt and scoring a game-high 28 points, despite shooting only 10 of 32 from the floor.

With 1:09 left, and the Sixers leading 82-77, Robinson lost the ball. Philly's Eric Snow grabbed it and passed to Iverson who laid one in on a breakaway. That basically did the Bucks in for good, and led to Big Dog's eventual ejection.

Robinson, even though he scored a team-high 20 points, should have kept his cool better. He forced a couple drives and lost the ball in crucial situations. He also embarrassed himself with the two technicals that got him ejected.

George Karl: "All this proves is that there are two good teams that a pretty equal. We have to fight, and it starts in two days."

Larry Brown: "We needed a great effort tonight, and we got it. Aaron (McKie) gave us a gusty performance after jamming his ankle. Allen played well. We need him out there. This was a total team effort, but this thing is far from over. They are too good."

Glenn Robinson: Philadelphia is a good defensive team that gets a lot of calls. We haven't scored a 100 points against them, but that hasn't lost games for us. Our mistakes have cost us games."

Allen Iverson on being hit in the mouth by Ray Allen in the closing minutes: "I don't think it was on purpose. It was in the middle of the court, in front of everybody. After playing all game with my butt hurting, I figured I could suck it up, swallow some blood and finish out the game."