The Atlantic Division is heading down to the wire. It's also heading down to the bottom.
Allen Iverson scored 38 points for Philadelphia, which beat Boston 97-93 on Sunday to snap a three-game losing streak and move three games behind the Celtics in the NBA's worst division. At one game below .500, Philadelphia could finish with the Eastern Conference's third seed or miss the playoffs altogether.
"The playoffs have started for a lot of teams and we haven't joined in the fray," said Boston coach Doc Rivers, hoarse after a game in which his team fell behind 26 points in the first quarter. "We really don't get it. I'm telling you, we don't."
Philadelphia moved a game ahead of Orlando for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Samuel Dalembert had 18 points and 15 rebounds for the Sixers, who played their third consecutive game with Chris Webber out because of a sprained left shoulder.
Iverson started and played 44 minutes, getting nine assists and six steals, despite a strained groin that put him out of the fourth quarter in Friday night's game against Dallas.
"Early in the game, we buckled down," he said. "I'm glad we did, because it shows we can play defense with the best of them."
Paul Pierce had 26 points and 13 rebounds and Raef LaFrentz had 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Celtics, who were without Antoine Walker (bruised left knee). Rivers said Walker will probably miss Tuesday's game at Washington and perhaps the rest of the week.
"But, listen," Rivers said. "They didn't have Webber, so no excuse for us. Antoine had nothing to do with this one."
Boston won 10 of 11 after acquiring Walker at the trading deadline, and Sunday's game was moved to the afternoon and put on national television after the surge threw the teams into a fight for the division title. But the Sixers have fallen to the verge of the lottery, and Boston lost three in a row before beating the Atlanta Hawks -- the NBA's worst team -- on Friday.
"It's a big game: national TV," said Ricky Davis, who scored 27 off the bench for Boston. "It's very embarrassing."
The Celtics would earn the third seed with a division title. But Boston is just ½-game ahead of Indiana for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
The Celtics trailed 38-12 with 15 seconds left in the first quarter, and it was still a double-digit deficit late in the fourth when Davis hit a 3-pointer with 6:39 left to make it 83-75. Pierce and Al Jefferson each hit a pair of free throws to complete a 7-0 run that made it a four-point game.
Boston made it 93-90 in the final minutes when Pierce scored on a finger-roll layin from underneath the basket and drew a foul. But he missed the free throw, then Iverson scored off a screen at the top of the key to give the Sixers a five-point lead with 22.7 seconds left.
The Celtics made just 5-of-20 shots and committed seven turnovers in the first quarter. Philadelphia made 5-of-12 from 3-point range in the first but just 1-of-9 in the second, when the Celtics scored eight straight to close the gap and then cut it to 10 on Pierce's 3-pointer in the final second of the half.
Game notes
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell took part in the national anthem, making good on a Super Bowl bet he made with his Massachusetts counterpart, Mitt Romney. Both governors wore Patriots jerseys; Rendell's wife, Midge, a trained opera singer, helped him finish the song. ... Kyle Korver went 1-for-6 from 3-point range to set the 76ers record for 3-pointers in a season with 198. The old mark was held by Dana Barros, who made 197 in 1994-95.
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The Clippers gave absentee coach Mike Dunleavy the perfect remedy for his balky backache.
With assistant coach Tony Brown orchestrating the show, the Clippers used a strong fourth quarter to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 104-88 on Thursday night in the NBA's final game of the decade. Chris Kaman had 26 points and 10 rebounds, as all the Clippers' starters scored in double figures.
Dunleavy, who aggravated a herniated disc in his back while getting ready to go to Staples Center, remained home and watched on TV as his team shot 55 percent from the field and 10 for 16 from 3-point range.
"He was in a lot of pain, and he's been fighting a flu bug," said Brown, who had only about 5 hours notice. "He mentioned that he was having some trouble that caused him to get some treatment for his back, and his sneezing really escalated the back issues. But I talked to Mike again before I came in here, and he was quite happy with the win."
This was the third time Brown has been placed in this emergency role during his 11 seasons as an NBA assistant coach, and the third time he's won. It also happened with the Boston Celtics, when Doc Rivers had to leave the team suddenly because of a death in the family, and again with Milwaukee when Larry Krystowiak's wife went into labor with twins.
"Everything we ran tonight was stuff that we've been running," Brown said. "It was short notice, and I wasn't going to go through an old playbook of mine and confuse the guys. So I didn't use any of Doc's stuff. I didn't expect to be coaching tonight, but it feels good to get a win. We really needed it."
Baron Davis had 20 points and seven assists for the Clippers and Marcus Camby contributed 14 points and 10 boards. Los Angeles completed a season sweep of the 76ers after losing both meetings in each of the previous two seasons.
Lou Williams led Philadelphia with 19 points and Elton Brand had 17 in his first road game against the Clippers since he left town as a free agent. The 76ers, coming off victories over Portland and Sacramento, still haven't won three in a row this season.
"We just had a lapse, a mental lapse," Brand said. "We didn't get rebounds and we didn't have the toughness that we had the last two games. We had the lead, but we couldn't keep it. In the third quarter, we started out of synch. They got easy bucket after easy bucket, and we were behind the 8-ball."
Los Angeles fell behind by as many as 13 points after Brand intercepted a pass by Sebastian Telfair and converted the turnover into a breakaway dunk with 2:46 left in the first quarter to cap a 19-4 run. But the Clippers sliced the margin to 51-49 by halftime, as Kaman led all scorers with 16 points despite missing nine of 15 shots.
Los Angeles pulled ahead for good at 55-52 on a 3-pointer by Rasual Butler with 9 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter and extended the margin to 78-63 on another 3 by Camby with 6.6 seconds left in the period.
"The intensity was way up, which is something that we hadn't had in a while," Brown said. "Our third quarters have been normally been slow-starting for us and giving teams a chance to stretch leads. But I think we did a really good job defensively on their perimeter guys, making them take tough contested shots.
"Then we got some timely shots by Rasual Butler, and Baron just carried us down the stretch with his timely shots and playmaking skills."
Brand, who signed a five-year, $80 million contract with the Sixers in July 2008 after he opted out of his Clippers contract, came off the bench for the ninth straight game. When he reported in with 3:18 left in the first quarter and Philadelphia leading 25-16, he was booed lustily by the crowd of 15,257.
"It was definitely strange, playing on the other side here. It was kind of surreal," Brand said. "I mean, there were a few plays where they did something good, and I wanted to give Kaman a high-five. But it's been a long time since I left, so it was a lot easier."
Brand holds the Clippers franchise record with 4,710 rebounds. After he left, Dunleavy accused Brand of backing out of a verbal agreement to return to the Clippers and never giving an explanation. Davis signed with Los Angeles as a free agent prior to that, with the understanding that he would play with Brand.
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Allen Iverson is set to retire from the NBA, according to an online report.
Commentator Stephen A. Smith published a statement on his Web site Wednesday attributed to Iverson. It said Iverson plans to retire but also that "I feel strongly that I can still compete at the highest level."
The statement also said Iverson has tremendous love for the game and the desire to play.
"His legacy would be huge," Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star LeBron James said. "He's one of the best when you talk about guys 6-foot and under in the game of basketball. He played injured and he played hard every single night. I don't think it should end this way, but if it does, he's left a lot of great things behind."
The 10-time All-Star played three games this season with Memphis before taking a leave of absence to attend to personal matters. He was waived after the two sides agreed to part ways.
It was the second straight ugly ending for Iverson, who was unhappy last season playing for the Pistons. He was upset that Detroit coach Michael Curry and Memphis' Lionel Hollins used the former MVP as a reserve.
The New York Knicks considered signing Iverson last week after he cleared waivers, before deciding he would take too much playing time away from younger players they are trying to develop.
The Knicks seemed to be the only team who would consider bringing in Iverson, so there was no guarantee he'd play in the NBA this season, anyway. Still, the announcement Wednesday came as a surprise to George Karl, who coached Iverson in Denver.
"I think he still has something left to give some team out there. If that's his decision, he'll go down in history, I think, as the greatest little guard ever to play the game of basketball," Karl said.
"I was happy to have him for a couple years and hopefully our paths will cross. But I have a sneaky feeling that somewhere along the way an injury or a circumstance with a team will open that window back up."
One of the NBA's great scorers, Iverson entered this season with a career average of 27.1 points that ranked fifth all time. Yet there was almost no interest in him this summer before he went to the Grizzlies on a one-year deal.
Iverson can still score, as he averaged 17.4 points with the Pistons last season. Yet he has made it clear he doesn't view himself as a backup, which has likely hurt his chances of signing with a contending team.
The 6-foot guard thanked former players and coaches in the statement, plus the fans in Memphis and Philadelphia, where he spent his best years. He said stepping away would allow him to spend more time with his wife and kids.
He also said he thought he could still play after 14 seasons.
"I always thought that when I left the game, it would be because I couldn't help my team the way that I was accustomed to," it read. "However, that is not the case."
Messages were left for Iverson's agent, Leon Rose, and his business manager, Gary Moore.
If this is the end for Iverson, he leaves with four scoring titles and a playoff scoring average of 29.7 points that ranks second only to Michael Jordan. He led the 76ers to the 2001 NBA finals but never won a championship.
Or he could choose to wait and see if a team in need of a scorer comes looking for him later this season.
"I don't ever believe anyone retires until they get to the point they have to," Boston coach Doc Rivers said. "He had a great career if it is true, but I still think he has more to offer."