Snow Leads the Way for Undefeated 76ers

The Philadelphia 76ers are no longer a one-man show. They’re off to their best start in 21 years because of it.

Eric Snow scored 22 points Thursday night as the undefeated and unselfish 76ers became the first NBA team to reach six victories by holding off the Minnesota Timberwolves, 84-82, at Minneapolis.

Snow, who had 16 points in the second half a day after a 10-point fourth-quarter performance in a victory over the Detroit Pistons, tied the score at 77-77 on a jumper with 1:41 to play.

His two free throws with 26 seconds left gave the 76ers an 83-79 lead.

Philadelphia used a 14-8 run over the last 4:11 to overtake the Timberwolves.

76er Coach Larry Brown, who is off to his best start as a coach since going 8-0 with the Denver Nuggets in the 1976-77 season, was pleased with the way Snow ran the show.

“He took some heat from me [Wednesday] because he has to be the coach on the floor and get us into stuff,” Brown said. “But tonight we got down, he stepped up, got it to the right people and made some amazing plays.”

It’s not a secret that Philadelphia has relied heavily on Allen Iverson for a large share of the scoring the last few seasons. But this year, his backcourt mate is picking up a lot of the slack.

“That’s been a big part of our success so far,” said Snow, who has never averaged more than eight points a game in his career. “We’re not about to get to the point where we feel one guy has to carry the load.”

Phoenix 88, Atlanta 79--Jason Kidd had 19 points, 12 assists and 13 rebounds at Phoenix to help the Suns to their fifth consecutive victory.

Dikembe Mutombo, playing for the first time this season after recovering from malaria, had 15 points and 17 rebounds in 34 minutes for the Hawks, whose 0-6 start is their worst ever.

“Offensively, he had some awfully good plays,” Hawk Coach Lon Kruger said. “His conditioning looked pretty good. He got tired a couple of times but I think he was outstanding.”

Detroit 108, New Jersey 94--Jerry Stackhouse scored 29 points at East Rutherford, N.J., to help the Pistons end a four-game losing streak.

Former Laker Byron Scott, the Nets’ rookie coach, was furious after seeing his team lose at home for the third time in as many games.

“We just got our butts kicked,” he said. “We played [terrible] from the beginning to the end. We did not compete. We stunk. We did not come with it tonight for whatever reason.”

Seattle 102, Charlotte 94--Vin Baker scored 22 points and Rashard Lewis added 19 to lead the SuperSonics at Charlotte, N.C.

Chicago 95, Orlando 90--Ron Mercer had 23 points and 10 rebounds, both season highs, to lead the Bulls at Chicago.

Houston 85, Vancouver 78--Steve Francis scored seven of his 19 points in the fourth period to lead the Rockets at Houston.

Portland 107, Denver 91--Steve Smith, Bonzi Wells and Dale Davis each scored 17 points for the Trail Blazers at Portland, Ore.