Allen Iverson turned the boos to cheers and the Philadelphia 76ers turned back the Utah Jazz.
Iverson returned from a one-game suspension to score 24 points, including a clutch 3-pointer with two minutes to go, as the 76ers pulled away for a 99-97 victory over the Jazz, who had a nine-game winning streak snapped.
Iverson missed a shootaround and was suspended by 76ers coach Larry Brown for Thursday's 92-77 loss at Miami. Iverson called the team and said he had a headache, but Brown suspended him anyway for an accumulation of trangressions.
Upset that he was not trusted by management, the NBA's scoring leader received a smattering of boos when he was introduced before tonight's game.
"That's the way life is. You can't satisfy everybody," Iverson said. "There is going to be a billion fans out here that love Allen Iverson and a billion that hate him. Once you start worrying about the ones that hate you, that's when you start to lose focus."
"That was the worst thing that could happen," Brown said. "It had to be hard. I didn't particularly listen but Randy (assistant coach Randy Ayers) mentioned it. ... You hope there is closure to it and it's over. And the way he played, I didn't hear anybody complaining."
Iverson won over the crowd with an excellent floor game that included 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range and a season-high nine assists.
"He played his best all-around game, to be perfectly honest with you," Brown said. "He made the other people better. He made big shots and I think it's a tribute to him that he could play under those circumstances."
"I was real ready to play this game," said Iverson, who was 8-of-20 from the field. "We've never beat Utah since I've been here."
Iverson helped the 76ers beat the Jazz at their own game -- offensive execution down the stretch. Philadelphia answered nearly every basket by Utah with one of its own and ended a five-game losing streak in the series.
"We did a really great job," said Brown, who tied Jazz coach Jerry Sloan on the all-time list with 718 victories. "They are as good as anybody in the league in execution and they made plays. I did a hell of a job in late-game situations with substituting offense-defense. They scored on our defensive team every trip but we got it done. I didn't think it would be easy."
"They deserved to win. They outplayed us and outworked us," Sloan said. "We didn't do the things down the stretch that give you a chance to win. We played like winning wasn't important to us."
The Jazz had a chance to cut the deficit to three points but Karl Malone missed a pair of free throws. Utah appeared to have Iverson trapped, but he spun through two defenders and drove before firing a behind-the-back pass to Theo Ratliff, who dunked for an 88-81 lead with 3:40 remaining.
A 3-pointer by John Stockton cut the deficit to 90-85 with 2:37 to play but Iverson answered with a 3-pointer and put his hand to his ear, calling for cheers from the First Union Center crowd.
Iverson added another basket for a 97-89 lead with 59 seconds to go and the Sixers withstood eight points from sharpshooting Jeff Hornacek to improve to 15-7 in games decided by three points or less.
"I told him that everybody in that locker room respects him for the way he competes every night so we have to go from here and all make a commitment to get this thing over with," Brown said. "Every time I've ever been involved with him in a situation like this, he's responded really favorably. You're going to have slippage that happens. He's 24 years old, you have to remember that. I don't know many 24-year-olds that are in a position he is with so much scrutiny."
Philadelphia's Toni Kukoc scored 14 points and led a bench that outscored Utah's reserves, 33-17. Tyrone Hill and Theo Ratliff scored 12 points apiece for the Sixers, who shot 50 percent (41-of-82) and made 11-of-12 free throws.
Malone had 31 points and 13 rebounds and Hornacek scored 16 points for the Jazz, who had not lost since February 27 at Portland and fell to 3-1 on their five-game road trip. Utah shot 45 percent (34-of-76) and held a 43-36 rebounding edge.
"We lose by two points and I miss six free throws (out of 15)," Malone said. "That's what I'll think about. They did a lot of things down the stretch to win this ballgame. They got the offensive rebounds and made big shots."
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