Allen Iverson was practically going
like 60.
Iverson scored a career-high 58 points -- the most in the NBA
this season -- as he rallied the Philadelphia 76ers to a 112-106
overtime victory over the Houston Rockets.
In his fifth career 50-point game, Iverson scored 14 in the
final seven minutes of the fourth quarter, including two free
throws with 23 seconds left that forced overtime.
In the extra session, Iverson made a jumper, a gutsy 3-pointer
and the clinching free throws as he eclipsed his previous career
high of 54, set January 6, 2001 at Cleveland.
"I have won scoring titles, I've scored 50 points before and I
have won individual awards," Iverson said. "I haven't won a
championship and that is the only thing that I am concerned
with."
Iverson made 21-of-42 shots and 14-of-14 free throws as he fell
two points shy of becoming the 17th player in NBA history -- and
the shortest -- to score 60 points in a game.
"You know something? He has the ultimate green light," Rockets
guard Cuttino Mobley said. "It's hard to stop somebody when
he's got the ultimate green light and when (he) gets hot. He's
one of the best players in the league. Plus, he's fast as all
hell."
The NBA's scoring leader more than doubled his average of 28.2
points and established a league season high, one night after Los
Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant scored 56 points in just three
quarters vs. Memphis.
"We knew when Kobe got 56, he'd have a big game," 76ers coach
Larry Brown said. "He was incredible. He played 50 minutes.
He defended and he just played a phenomenal game."
The outburst was the most by any Sixer other than the legendary
Wilt Chamberlain. Chamberlain scored a team-record 68 points at
Chicago on December 16, 1967.
The Sixers are 3-2 when Iverson scores at least 50 points. That
does not include two playoff wins over Toronto last year.
"He is just tremendous," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said.
"We were running guys at him. Iverson just shot it before we
could get anyone across the floor. He was winging them from all
over the place. It was a great performance."
Rookie Speedy Claxton scored 16 points for Philadelphia, which
has won five of its last seven games.
"(Claxton) was aggressive every time he received the ball in a
double-team, shot it, and didn't even think about it," Brown
said. "His defense is just incredible."
"The important thing is trying to stay consistent," Iverson
added. "That's what makes a team good. With bad teams, you
knock them off and good teams you try to knock them off. If you
don't, you give the effort and then that carries on to the next
game."
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Once the Toronto Raptors started running, the Philadelphia 76ers could not slow them down.
Alvin Williams and a host of reserves led a second-quarter assault and the Raptors rarely relented in a 100-85 over the Philadelphia 76ers, who suffered their fifth straight road loss.
Williams had 14 points and 13 assists and did a credible job on NBA scoring leader Allen Iverson, who managed just 18 points on 7-of-23 shooting before sitting down for good midway through the third quarter.
Williams handed out 11 assists in the first half, when Toronto raced to a 63-39 lead and made the 76ers look like the Eastern Conference's worst team rather than its best. He scored eight points in a 29-3 second-quarter run during which the Raptors repeatedly beat the defensive-minded Sixers downcourt for dunks and layups.
"We've wanted to push the ball more and more by controlling the ball," Raptors coach Lenny Wilkens said. "It allowed us to push the ball upcourt and we hit our shots."
"I haven't been in a game where a team had 35 points on the fast break in the first half, plus they had 22 assists and only one turnover," Sixers coach Larry Brown said. "They manhandled us. We took bad shots and we didn't guard. Everybody on their team made a significant contribution."
Reserves Keon Clark and Chris Childs scored 11 points apiece and also were in the middle of the explosion in the second quarter that gave Toronto a 59-33 lead. The Raptors also got a spark from backup forward Jerome Williams, who scored six points in the period.
"Alvin distributed the ball really well and I thought Chris and Alvin played well together," Wilkens said. "When you run and push the ball, you get into a rhythm. Guys were catching the ball and making shots."
"Everyone had energy tonight," Clark added. "It wasn't just myself or Jerome coming off the bench. ... Tonight was the smoothest offense we had all year. Nobody was forcing or rushing anything. We still need to be consistent."
Vince Carter scored 26 points for the Raptors, who never trailed and defeated the Sixers for the third consecutive time, becoming the only team thus far to take the season series from Philadelphia.
"They hit shots and we just did a bad job," Iverson said. "They outhustled us, and we rarely get outhustled."
The Raptors (41-33) won for the fifth time in six games and moved one game ahead of Orlando for sixth place in the East.
The Sixers (51-23) have lost seven of their last 10 games and fell one game behind San Antonio for the league's best record. The magic number for clinching their first Atlantic Division title since 1990 remained three.
Iverson's layup gave Philadelphia a 30-30 tie with 9:46 left in the second quarter before Toronto's onslaught began with consecutive fast-break dunks by Carter and Antonio Davis.
A jumper by Childs made it 40-30 with 7:46 remaining before a free throw by Philadelphia's Tyrone Hill only briefly slowed the deluge.
For the next five minutes, Williams thwarted Iverson at one end and scored or set up teammates at the other. Dunks by Clark and Jerome Williams preceded a 3-pointer by Childs that capped the explosion at 59-33 with 2:33 to go. Philadelphia called three timeouts during the burst.
"I thought we played good team defense, especially on Iverson," Alvin Williams said. "The guys were making shots and as a point guard, it made my job easier. They asked me to stick him (Iverson) and I did my best to make his shots difficult."
Any chance the Sixers had of getting back into the game ended when the Raptors scored the first 11 points of the third quarter, opening their largest lead at 74-39 on a tip-in by former Sixer Eric Montross with 8:39 left. Brown emptied his bench shortly thereafter.
Montross was a surprise starter for Charles Oakley, who was suspended one game by the NBA for hitting Sixers forward Tyrone Hill with a thrown basketball during Tuesday's shootaround. Montross had season highs of six points and 11 rebounds.
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The Philadelphia 76ers watched their second-half
lead shrink from 19 points to one, and they endured five changes of
possession in the final 20 seconds.
Somehow they hung on, surviving their second frantic finish in
as many nights to beat the Miami Heat 93-90 Friday.
"We had them on the ropes, but we couldn't knock them out,"
said Allen Iverson, who scored 35 points.
Miami missed three 3-pointers down the stretch that would have
tied the score, including an uncontested 24-footer by Lamar Odom
with two seconds to go.
"We played with guts, heart and determination," Odom said.
"But you can't get down 19 points against Philadelphia."
Iverson, who scored the game's final points on a basket with 21
seconds left, had a strange shooting night. He went 5-for-9 from
3-point range, 2-for-14 on two-point shots and 16-for-17 at the
free-throw line.
"I couldn't hit anything inside the arc," Iverson said. "But
fortunately I was able to get to the line and have a big night."
The NBA scoring leader is averaging 38.8 points in his past four
games.
The 76ers, who defeated Chicago 83-82 on Thursday, lead the
Atlantic Division at 11-10 even though they've been hampered by
injuries. Philadelphia snapped a three-game road losing streak and
beat the Heat for the sixth time in a row.
"The fact that we're above .500 and leading our division says a
lot," guard Eric Snow said. "We've been through a lot, been
through the tough times, and we've survived."
They barely withstood a comeback by the Heat, who fell behind
73-54 with three minutes left in the third period before rallying.
Eddie Jones missed a 3-pointer that would have tied the game with
2:50 left, and another with 43 seconds to go. Miami's Brian Grant
rebounded the second miss and scored to cut the 76ers' lead to
91-90.
Iverson's 18-footer made it 93-90. Then came a furious sequence.
Odom missed a running scoop shot, and Snow missed a breakaway
layup. Grant grabbed the rebound and threw the ball out of bounds
with five seconds left, but a bad pass by Philadelphia's Aaron
McKie gave the ball back to Miami.
Odom then missed from the top of the arc, and the 76ers' John
Salmons rebounded with one second left to clinch the victory.
"You can't let the comeback obscure the things we did wrong the
first 30 minutes," Miami coach Stan Van Gundy said. "The first
half was obviously the worst we've played all year."
Dwyane Wade scored 21 points for Miami. Jones, who missed his
first 10 shots and finished 7-for-22, scored 20. Odom went 5-for-17
and scored 19.
Philadelphia's Derrick Coleman, who has missed nine games with a
strained knee, played the entire fourth quarter and finished with
12 points and seven rebounds.
"I could have surgery," Coleman said. "But that would put me
out for a year, and I'm already 36 years old. I don't want to do
that. The pain is not that bad, although the back-to-back games are
tough."
The 76ers have won 13 of their past 15 games against Miami,
including two victories this season. They've won five straight at
Miami.
The Heat had won four home games in a row.
Game notes
Miami's Caron Butler, who has struggled in limited duty
since undergoing knee surgery Oct. 4, didn't dress. Butler might be
ready to return to the starting lineup next week, Van Gundy said.
... Iverson's 35 points were the most against the Heat this season.
... The 76ers improved to 6-0 when leading at halftime. ... Iverson
had a steal in the fourth quarter to extend his streak to 44
consecutive games, the longest active streak in the NBA. ... Miami
center Loren Woods made his first start since Nov. 16, 2002,
replacing Udonis Haslem. Woods missed his first six free-throw
attempts. ... The Heat fell to 1-11 when their opponent shoots more
free throws.