76ers Climb Higher Than Ever

Allen Iverson has led the Philadelphia 76ers to a better start than Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Erving or Charles Barkley ever did.

Iverson scored 19 points and added five assists as the 76ers beat the Miami Heat, 94-73, on Friday night at Philadelphia to improve to 9-0 for the first time in franchise history.

“You don’t think about this in your wildest dreams,” Iverson said. “To come in a league so tough like this and be 9-0, and with everything that went on with me in the summer, that makes it that much sweeter, that much better.”

Eric Snow had 14 points and Tyrone Hill added 12 for the Sixers, who have won nine in a row for the first time since January 1990.

Brian Grant scored 16 points--all in the first half--and had 11 rebounds, and Tim Hardaway added 14 for the Heat.

Miami played without Eddie Jones, who sat out his second consecutive game with a strained calf. Hardaway left the game in the third quarter with tendinitis in his right knee and didn’t return.

“I’m a pessimist, I don’t know what’s going on,” said Philadelphia’s Aaron McKie, who scored 11 points and had six assists. “The chemistry is there, that’s for sure. We just have to find a way to come out with more intensity early.”

Miami started strong and opened an eight-point lead in the first quarter. But the Heat scored 26 points the entire second half.

The Sixers used an 18-0 run to erase a four-point deficit in the third quarter. Theo Ratliff gave Philadelphia its first lead since the opening minutes with a two free throws, then Iverson took over.

He threw an alley-oop to George Lynch on a fast break, found Hill for an easy basket on another fast break and hit a long jumper to make it 60-52. Two free throws by Snow, a put-back by Hill and a jumper by Snow gave the Sixers a 66-52 lead with 3:23 left in the third.

“We can’t play much better than that,” 76ers Coach Larry Brown said about the third quarter.

Dallas 99, Seattle 95--Steve Nash sank a wide-open 15-footer with 12.3 seconds left to give the Mavericks the lead for good at Seattle as the SuperSonics dropped to 3-7.

The Sonics didn’t get off a final shot as Gary Payton was stripped of the ball and Michael Finley went downcourt for a dunk with 2.4 seconds left.

Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with a season-high 28 points, while Finley tied his season-best with 26.

Minnesota 99, San Antonio 94--Kevin Garnett had a season-high 32 points, 12 rebounds and two crucial baskets in overtime as the Timberwolves survived another fourth-quarter failure at Minneapolis.

Garnett made consecutive jumpers over Tim Duncan to give the Timberwolves a three-point lead with 52.9 seconds left.

Terry Porter, who had 14 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter, then missed a chance to tie it against his former team when his three-point basket from the corner rimmed out.

Golden State 92, Indiana 90--Antawn Jamison scored 28 points and Erick Dampier had a season-high 20 at Indianapolis as the Warriors stopped their seven-game losing streak and ended the Pacers’ five-game winning streak.

Chris Mullin and Larry Hughes each hit two free throws in the final seven seconds to help the Warriors survive Indiana’s bid for a fourth consecutive comeback victory in the final period.

Reggie Miller led the Pacers with 30 points, becoming the 25th player in league history to reach 20,000 career points.

Detroit 96, Charlotte 89--Jerry Stackhouse scored 25 points at Charlotte, N.C., and the Pistons opened the fourth quarter with a 24-12 run to send the Hornets to their fifth consecutive loss.

Boston 106, Atlanta 99--Paul Pierce scored 25 points and Antoine Walker added 22 at Boston as the Celtics sent the Hawks to their seventh consecutive road loss.

Milwaukee 89, Cleveland 76--Glenn Robinson scored eight of his 21 points in a 15-3 fourth-quarter run at Milwaukee. The victory was the second in a row for the Bucks after a disappointing 1-5 start.