Iverson’s 45 Points Fail to Hold Off Jazz

Karl Malone had Danny Manning to lend a hand. Allen Iverson had only himself.

Malone scored a season-high 41 points and Manning had 12 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter as the Utah Jazz rallied to beat the 76ers, 91-89, Wednesday night at Philadelphia.

The game marked Coach Larry Brown’s return to the 76ers after missing two straight practices following a weekend dispute with the team that included heated words from Iverson. His team led by as many as 16 points but faltered down the stretch.

Iverson scored a season-high 45 points, but his desperation three-pointer with 3.1 seconds left fell short.

Manning made two foul shots to tie the game at 89, then sank a jumper to make it 91-89 with 19.1 seconds left.

“We are putting too much pressure on one guy,” Brown said. “It was almost like a schoolyard game. He made some unbelievable shots, but it makes it too easy to guard other people.

“We can’t win if one guy is scoring all the points. They defer to him, and he did his best to try to win the game.”

The 76ers didn’t make a field goal in the fourth quarter until Iverson scored on a driving layup to tie it at 78 with 5:36 left. Utah snapped a two-game losing streak and won despite the first-quarter ejection of Coach Jerry Sloan.

Charlotte 65, Miami 56--In the second-lowest scoring game in NBA history, the Hornets held the Heat to a franchise-low in points at Charlotte, N.C.

The teams combined for only 121 points--two more than the all-time low of 119 for combined points in a game set by Boston and Milwaukee on Feb. 27, 1955.

The Heat made only 19 field goals and shot 29%. Miami did not reach 40 points until 8:47 of the fourth quarter.

“What can I say? It was one of the ugliest games of the year,” Heat Coach Pat Riley said.

Jamal Mashburn scored 19 to lead Charlotte. Anthony Mason and Brian Grant each had 11 points for Miami.

Seattle 89, Sacramento 85--Gary Payton had 19 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists as the SuperSonics rallied from a seven-point, fourth-quarter deficit in a tense game at Seattle.

Seattle’s Vin Baker was ejected and Sacramento’s Chris Webber was called for technical and flagrant fouls as the two renewed their bad blood. Baker and Webber were ejected after an altercation in their last meeting Nov. 25.

Dallas 106, Portland 101--Dirk Nowitzki scored 29 points as the host Mavericks prevailed in a game featuring 11 technical fouls, six in the fourth quarter, and the fourth-quarter ejection of Trail Blazer Coach Mike Dunleavy.

Dallas won its fourth in a row since Coach Don Nelson returned from a three-game absence while seeking treatment for prostate cancer. The victory also tied Nelson with Bill Fitch for No. 3 on the NBA’s all-time victory list at 944.

Toronto 99, Indiana 98--Vince Carter scored 45 points, but it was former Pacer Antonio Davis’ free throw with 1.8 seconds left in overtime that won it for the Raptors at Indianapolis.

Jalen Rose nearly matched Carter with a career-high 42 points for the Pacers. Rose’s previous best was 37. Carter’s season high is 48.

Boston 99, New Jersey 86--Paul Pierce scored 25 points and Antoine Walker added 21 with 19 rebounds at Boston to help snap the Celtics’ four-game losing streak.

San Antonio 94, Cleveland 77--Danny Ferry, who had spent the last 10 years in Cleveland, scored 16 points against his former team at San Antonio as the Spurs snapped the Cavaliers’ six-game winning streak.

Denver 108, Detroit 106--Nick Van Exel had 17 points and 10 assists and made a driving layup with 21 seconds left at Denver to lead the Nuggets to their third victory in a row.

Vancouver 118, Washington 104--Mike Bibby had his best shooting game of the season, scoring 26 points and going 10 of 14 from the field at Vancouver, Canada, as the Grizzlies snapped a six-game losing streak.

Juwan Howard had a season-high 34 points but the Wizards lost for the 11th time in their last 12 games.