Allen Iverson was healthy enough to dazzle the Sacramento Kings and push the Philadelphia 76ers to the top of the NBA.
Iverson scored 46 points with a whirling array of beautiful shots, and Aaron McKie, who had a triple-double, hit a 3-pointer to break a tie with 39 seconds left in overtime as the 76ers earned the NBA's best record with a 107-104 victory over the Kings on Saturday.
The game matched the teams with the NBA's best records entering January, but the 76ers (21-8) jumped ahead early with a blistering first quarter and never trailed the Kings (20-8) despite several nip-and-tuck minutes in regulation and a tense overtime.
Iverson, who also had nine rebounds and nine assists, drove the lane and passed to McKie in the corner for the go-ahead shot. Sacramento couldn't score on its last two possessions, and Jon Barry's 3-pointer with a second left was short.
With Iverson's artistry and a dominant rebounding performance, the Sixers won their NBA-best 14th road game and snapped Sacramento's nine-game home winning streak. McKie had 19 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds in Philadelphia's first win at Arco Arena in 11 years.
Iverson missed a game last week with a dislocated right shoulder and also is nursing a left hip pointer and a sore right elbow. But the 1999 NBA scoring champion used the nationally televised meeting of the NBA's conference leaders to show he's healthy and ready to make the Sixers better than they've ever been in his career.
Peja Stojakovic scored a career-high 33 points for the Kings, and he hit four straight free throws in overtime which tied it at 104 with 54 seconds left. Sacramento is 13-2 at home, with both losses coming in overtime.
Chris Webber, fighting a case of stomach flu, had 29 points and 10 rebounds but missed a potential game-winning jumper with five seconds left in regulation.
After trailing the entire game, the Kings outscored the Sixers 32-15 in the fourth quarter thanks to 11 points by Stojakovic _ including three straight 3-pointers _ and Bobby Jackson's solid defense on Iverson.
Sacramento pulled within one with five minutes to play and tied it at 96 on Webber's driving layup with 2:01 left. It was tied at 98 when Webber missed a jumper with five seconds left, and Jackson's tip attempt missed by an inch.
Philadelphia got the last shot of regulation, but Iverson's 17-footer was off.
The Sixers opened the game in an offensive groove, hitting 14 of their first 20 shots and steadily opening an 18-point lead in the first quarter. Sacramento chipped back in the next two quarters, but they never pulled within striking distance of the lead until the final minutes. Notes:@ McKie and Philadelphia coach Larry Brown received technical fouls late in the first half for protesting a foul call on McKie. Brown nearly came to half-court to scream at referee Jason Phillips. ... The Sixers also were irked that a backcourt violation wasn't called on Jackson with 24 seconds left in regulation. The referees said Jackson didn't have possession of the inbounds pass before he fumbled it into the backcourt. ... The 76ers hadn't won at Arco Arena since March 1, 1989, when Charles Barkley had a triple-double.
「array and pointer」的推薦目錄:
array and pointer 在 pennyccw Youtube 的最佳貼文
Nuggets get crucial win with playoff implications over Lakers
Allen Iverson knew there'd be days like this.
The Nuggets are just 27-27 since his trade from Philadelphia but that doesn't begin to tell the whole story, which includes an array of games without suspended superstar Carmelo Anthony and sharpshooter J.R. Smith and a whole mess of injuries that prevented any sort of cohesion until the last couple of weeks.
Now, the Nuggets are meshing just in time for the playoffs.
They beat the fading Los Angeles Lakers 115-111 on Monday night to stretch their winning streak to a season-best six straight games behind Carmelo Anthony's 33 points and Marcus Camby's 22 rebounds and seven blocks.
"This is probably the best time ever to get the chemistry down," Anthony said. "It couldn't come at a much better time for us."
These types of nights are beginning to make up for all those losses that A.I. endured when he first came to Colorado, fueling his critics' contention that two superstar scorers couldn't coexist for very long.
"I always felt good about my situation," Iverson said. "That was the whole big thing with me. I knew there was going to be one day when 'Melo came back and J.R. came back, and I knew that we'd be able to get into practice and get some offensive and defensive chemistry going.
"I felt I was in a better position than I was in Philadelphia, so I never lost hope or lost focus because I felt the day that we'd be playing good basketball would come," Iverson said. "I'm just happy that it's now that we're headed into the playoffs."
Anthony sealed the latest win with three free throws in the last 9 seconds and Camby cradled Kobe Bryant's errant desperation 3-pointer that would have tied it in the final seconds.
Iverson added 24 points for the Nuggets, who tightened their grip on the sixth spot in the West, moving 1 1/2 games ahead of the Lakers, who have lost six of their last eight.
"Anthony's playing extremely well, AI's playing extremely well," Bryant said. "The supporting cast is playing extremely well. They are very hot right now."
And the Lakers are very cold.
The Lakers (40-38) haven't beaten a team with a winning record since defeating Utah on Feb. 26. No other Phil Jackson-coached team has ever lost this many games in a season. They went 45-37 last year.
Even their superstar was mired in a funk Monday night.
Bryant scored 23 points, nine below his league-leading average, and missed 21 of his 30 shots. When his 3-pointer rattled out with 2.7 seconds left, Camby cradled the rebound -- his 22nd on this night and 42nd in his last two games against the Lakers -- and drew the foul.
He missed his first free throw but sank his second and Anthony swiped the long inbounds to seal Denver's win.
"He's a great rebounder," Iverson said. "He'll kill us if we get anywhere near a ball he can get his hands on. If he can get his hands on it and we touch that ball, we're going to hear about it. The ones that are long, we try to get those and the ones that are in the paint, we let Marcus get them."
Bryant made just 1-of-5 from the arc and although he made four of his five free throws, his one miss came with 1:01 left and the Lakers trailing by two.
With Denver ahead 111-109, Sasha Vujacic kicked the ball with 9.7 seconds remaining on the game clock and four on the shot clock, causing a reset and forcing the Lakers to foul Anthony, who missed one of two free throws, leaving Denver clinging to a three-point lead.
Anthony fouled Bryant with 8.3 seconds left before he could set up for a game-tying 3-pointer and Bryant sank both foul shots.
Anthony was fouled on the inbounds and also sank both of his shots, giving Denver a 114-111 lead with 7 seconds left. That's when Bryant's final 3-pointer rattled out.
The Lakers trailed 92-82 heading into the fourth quarter but stormed ahead 105-104 on Brian Cook's 3-pointer with 4:20 left, capping a 13-2 spurt that included a slam and a fadeaway by Bryant. The run was sparked by Los Angeles turning to a zone defense, which stopped Denver's penetration in the second half.
Bryant, the NBA's leading scorer after a super surge over the last six weeks, was ice cold in the first half, shooting just 4-of-12 for nine points. His first basket came with 2:59 left in the first quarter.