After ripping his team for having no heart,
Allen Iverson showed they still have a pulse.
Iverson played one of his better offensive games of the season
Thursday night, scoring 39 points to lead the struggling
Philadelphia 76ers past the weary and depleted Los Angeles Lakers
96-73.
In a game that stayed competitive for only a few minutes,
Iverson had his way against defender Derek Fisher and repeatedly
freed himself for mid-range jumpers and drives.
Iverson shot 15-for-29 from the field -- missing his final four
shots -- and added six assists in one of the 76ers' most lopsided
victories of the season and the Lakers' largest margin of defeat.
"I tried to make sure I led by example," Iverson said. "I saw
guys were trying to get things done the right way."
The Lakers, playing their fourth road game in five nights and
extra tired after arriving in Philadelphia around 4 a.m., lost Gary
Payton to an ejection in a first quarter in which they scored just
10 points -- matching their season low set earlier this week at
Indiana.
Shaquille O'Neal missed 11 of 13 foul shots in the first half,
finishing 3-for-15 from the line with 17 points.
"We just had dead legs tonight. It was just obvious we didn't
have any zip out there at all," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.
"This is not a low point. They're not depressed about it. They
just had a bad game. Shaq couldn't make any free throws, they lose
Gary ...
"We're not going into the woods to fight a bear with a switch.
That wasn't going to happen out there tonight."
The Lakers were supposed to be joined by Kobe Bryant, who is on
the injured list with a lacerated finger. But Bryant defied coach
Jackson and did not show up, leaving the team wondering about his
whereabouts until shortly before gametime.
Bryant's agent told the Lakers that Bryant would join them in
Orlando on the fifth stop of their seven-game road trip.
Glenn Robinson added 26 points for the 76ers, who were ripped by
Iverson two nights ago following a loss to Toronto -- their ninth in
11 games.
"We don't play with no heart, we don't take a challenge,"
Iverson said during a 10-minute rant. "Guys don't take pride and
compete."
After shooting off his mouth, it became clear early that Iverson
might be capable of shooting the Sixers out of their slump.
He scored six points over the final 1:05 of the first quarter to
help Philadelphia to a 25-10 lead.
"I hope it didn't take that," Iverson said of his public
outburst. "If it did, I'm happy that it worked. Guys came out and
played hard.
"I haven't seen that energetic flavor from us in a while."
The opening 12 minutes featured the quick ejection of Payton by
referee Joey Crawford for arguing while Iverson shot free throws.
Payton did not comment after the game, nor did O'Neal.
"I'm not going to talk about it. It's too irritating to talk
about it," Jackson said of Payton's ejection.
The Sixers led 44-29 at halftime behind 20 points from Iverson,
and he reached 30 points with 3:35 left in the third quarter by
losing Fisher with a crossover dribble and hitting a 21-footer.
Samuel Dalembert followed with a dunk off a pass from Robinson to
give Philadelphia a 71-44 lead.
Iverson sat down for good with 4:02 remaining and the 76ers
ahead 89-66.
footer example 在 pennyccw Youtube 的最讚貼文
Derrick Coleman sank the winning jumper with two-tenths of a
second left and Allen Iverson added 27 points as the
Philadelphia 76ers rallied from a 20-point deficit and ended an
11-game losing streak in Phoenix with an 85-84 victory over the
Suns.
Coleman's open 17-footer from the left of the basket capped a
22-5 game-ending run and gave the 76ers' their first win at
Phoenix since December 28th, 1985. He finished with 18 points
and 10 rebounds.
"It's a play we call `clock,'" explained Coleman. "It's when
the shot clock is down low. Al and Theo (Ratliff) screen my man
low and I pop out and take the jump shot... no, I wasn't sure
that it was going in."
Iverson scored 13 of his points in the final 8:13. With
Philadelphia trailing 79-63 after a bucket by Steve Nash with
8:31 remaining, Iverson led an 18-2 charge as the Sixers forged
an 81-81 deadlock on two free throws by Theo Ratliff with just
over a minute left.
"I think we did a great job on defense," Iverson said. "That's
always the key. I couldn't buy a shot the whole game and my
teammates and the coaching staff still have the confidence to
come back to me. It made me feel good and pump me up and I got
going in the fourth."
Phoenix's Cliff Robinson sank a free throw before Philadelphia
took the lead when Iverson capitalized on Rex Chapman's turnover
by hitting a pair from the line. Kevin Johnson countered at 52
seconds with the Suns' first field goal since Nash's shot. But
Coleman's game-winner lifted the 76ers to their second straight
road win.
Robinson finished with 21 points and Danny Manning added 15 for
the Suns, who committed 23 turnovers that were exchanged for 25
points by Philadelphia.
Phoenix, which held a 62-42 cushion after Chapman's
three-pointer with 10:00 left in the third period, had a
five-game winning streak snapped.
The Suns shot 61 percent in the first half before going cold in
the final 24 minutes, shooting an abysmal 9-of-35 (26 percent)
from the field and tying their all-time low for a half with 27
points.
Antonio McDyess scored all 11 of his points in the first quarter
as the Suns jumped out to a 31-24 lead. They continued to pull
away in the second, taking a 57-39 lead at halftime.
The Sixers narrowed the gap to 12 points after three periods and
shut down Phoenix in the fourth, holding them to just 12 points
and 4-of-19 shooting from the field.
"Oh, man that was ugly," said Phoenix coach Danny Ainge. "That
was a terrible second half of basketball. A classic example of
us flirting with disaster. We have a tendency to do that and it
finally got us."
Iverson got the best of counterpart Jason Kidd, who finished
with six points and 10 assists, but only two and four in the
second half. Iverson, who went 8-of-20 from the field, did most
of his damage from the line, hitting 10-of-11 from the stripe --
6-of-6 in the final quarter -- to go along with five assists.
The win kicks off a four-game western road swing that takes the
Sixers to Los Angeles to face the Clippers before they go on to
Denver and San Antonio.
"In the first half we didn't guard anybody," said Sixers coach
Larry Brown. "In the second half we started to guard people. Our
big guys were tremendous and our bench came in and really
guarded. This is as good a win as we could ever have."
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Allen Iverson can hit a game-winning shot even when he's being defended pretty well.
Iverson scored 39 points from every angle on the court, including a driving, fallaway runner from 10 feet out with 2.2 seconds left to give the Philadelphia 76ers a 105-103 victory over the Orlando Magic on Friday night.
"I wanted to get in a little closer than I did, but I just took what the defense gave me and fortunately, it went in," Iverson said.
Magic guard Keyon Dooling was all over Iverson on the play.
"That wasn't the first time he threw one in like that," Dooling said. "He was definitely on tonight. That final shot was just another example of a great player making a great play when they needed him."
The Magic had a chance to tie the game, but Grant Hill's 12-footer at the buzzer was short.
Hill, who led the Magic with 25 points, had hit a similar shot to tie the game at 103 with 12 seconds left, but Iverson answered that with the game-winner.
"They wanted it a little more than we did and that's a little disappointing," Hill said.
Iverson finished 15-of-25, including three 3-pointers, but he was hardly alone in scoring from the perimeter. Reserve Kyle Korver had 28 points on 10-of-13 shooting, while Andre Iguodala and Chris Webber each added 11 for Philadelphia, which shot 56.1 percent from the field. The Sixers scored only 26 points in the paint.
Korver was a particular sore spot for the Magic, who tried four different defenders on him, but couldn't find one that could stop him. He hit all four 3-point attempts and all four free throw shots in a near-perfect night of shooting.
"You can tell Kyle likes the new basketball and if he likes it, I'll just deal with it," Iverson said. "I call him 'The Sniper' and he proved it tonight."
Hedo Turkoglu had 15 points and nine rebounds and Dwight Howard finished with 14 points and nine rebounds for the Magic.
The Magic hit 53.4 percent (39-of-73) but turnovers and foul problems kept them from finding a sustained period of success. Orlando committed 23 turnovers and big men Tony Battie and Darko Milicic played a total of 33 minutes because of foul problems.
"When you let a team shoot 56 percent and you commit 23 turnovers, you have to play a perfect game to win," Hill said. "We didn't play a perfect game. We've got to learn from it and move on."
A three-point play by Dooling sparked a 9-0 run that helped Orlando cut the deficit to 53-52 at halftime.
Iverson hit his first five shots in the third quarter, including a 3-pointer that gave Philadelphia a 69-60 lead. His streak ended when the 6-foot-8 Hill took over the defensive assignment. Iverson didn't score again the rest of the period and the Magic used a 14-3 run to gain a 78-77 lead at the end of the quarter.
The Sixers went up 92-86 on a 3-pointer by rookie Rodney Carney with 7:15 left, but the Magic rallied again. A three-point play by Hill and 3-pointer by Turkoglu gave the Magic a 99-97 lead with 2:55 left.
The Sixers scored six straight points to go up 103-99 with 42 seconds to play, but a dunk by Howard and Hill's driving layup tied the game at 103 with 12 seconds to play.