Allen Iverson 52pts FULL Highlights vs Vince Carter Raptors 00/01 Playoffs Game 5 *MVP Presentation

Any questions? On the night he received the NBA Most Valuable Player trophy, Allen Iverson removed all doubt about his importance to the Philadelphia 76ers, scoring 52 points and setting a team mark for 3-pointers in a 121-88 victory over the Toronto Raptors.

A Herculean effort from the smallest MVP in league history gave the 76ers a 3-2 series lead and moved them within one win of their first trip to the Eastern Conference finals in 16 years.

It was the 6-foot Iverson's second 50-point game of the series. "The Answer" fell two points shy of his Game Two total as he joined Michael Jordan in very exclusive company and silenced Raptors forward Charles Oakley.

After Iverson struggled in Game Three, Oakley said the superstar guard would not score 50 again. As he had all season, Iverson made believers out of those who have doubted his ability to carry a team on his slender shoulders.

"I would never make a comment like that because I don't know what a person is capable of doing," Iverson said. "Maybe they were trying to boost their team up or get in my head or something."

"He showed why he's an MVP and showed why he deserved it," Raptors superstar Vince Carter said.

Much like in Game Two, Iverson did most of his damage from the perimeter. He made 21-of-32 shots, including an 8-of-14 assault from the arc that fell one shy of the all-time playoff mark for 3-pointers tied by Carter in Game Three.

Normally one who challenges bigger players with penetration, Iverson attempted just two free throws, both after being fouled while making jumpers. He shot 47 free throws in the first four games of the series.

"I didn't even know that," Iverson said. "That's always be the talk about my game. People say if I have a flaw in my game it was not being about to make the outside shot."

"I feel most comfortable when he gets free throws, when he gets to the line," 76ers coach Larry Brown said. "But when you have it going like him ... I don't know many people who quite have it going like him so I've never been in that situation."

Iverson scored 29 points in the first half as Philadelphia ran to a 62-40 lead. He added 18 in the third quarter and surpassed the half-century mark with 8:53 to play.

The only other player to score 50 points twice in a series is Jordan, who did it against Cleveland -- and current Raptors coach Lenny Wilkens -- in 1988.

"I guess we're just in the way of where they want to go," said Wilkens.

With 4:25 to play and the Sixers leading by 30 points, Iverson left to a standing ovation and chants of "MVP!" from the crowd of 20,939 at the First Union Center.

"He had an incredible game," 76ers coach Larry Brown said. "I thought the first half we executed very well, he made shots, gave the ball up. He defended. He just did it all. He even asked me to take him out. A lot of strange things are happening around this place."

Iverson also heard the "MVP" chants before the game, when NBA commissioner David Stern presented him with the Maurice Podoloff Trophy.

"I was kind of nervous and excited getting the award," Iverson said. "I didn't want to come out and go too fast."

It was the Raptors who looked nervous. They unraveled early, trailing 11-0 after three minutes and 33-12 after one quarter. They never got closer than 17 points thereafter and trailed by as many as 34.

Carter had his second consecutive rough game, scoring just 16 points and committing six turnovers. He took a poke in the eye in the third quarter and a shot to the face early in the fourth from 76ers center Dikembe Mutombo that knocked him to the floor and kept him there for several minutes. He sat the last 11 minutes.

"It hurt," Carter said. "It was a major headache. I couldn't get up."

Game Six is Friday in Toronto, where Philadelphia won Game Four. If necessary, Game Seven would be Sunday in Philadelphia.

The Sixers keep winning games and losing players. On Sunday, forward George Lynch went down with a broken foot. In this one, Mutombo suffered a broken left pinky and is day to day.

Despite Iverson's explosion, it was not a one-man gang for the Sixers, who set team playoff records by shooting 60 percent (47-of-78) overall and making 11 3-pointers. They hit all 16 of their free throws and held a 38-28 rebounding edge.