Iverson Talks It Up After Rout of Spurs

Allen Iverson scored 37 points, the 76ers beat the San Antonio Spurs, 101-84, but all was still not well in Philadelphia.

In the 76ers’ first game since Iverson criticized Coach Larry Brown and then was kicked out of practice earlier Friday, the league MVP made 14 of 31 shots and was nine of 10 from the free-throw line.

But rather than discuss beating the team with the NBA’s third-best record, Iverson talked about his relationship with Brown.

“I was asked to leave and I left, those things happen sometimes,” Iverson said. “But I learned from last game to get myself together before talking. It becomes a circus.”

Iverson was critical of Brown’s handling of the team after Philadelphia’s 102-91 loss to the Orlando Magic on Wednesday. Brown declined to speak about Iverson but said, “obviously, after all that’s happened since Wednesday, this was a huge win.”

Iverson offered no apology for comments on Wednesday.

“I didn’t lie about anything, all I did was speak my mind,” said Iverson, who has sparred with Brown on numerous occasions. “Sometimes people take it the wrong way. The media thinks I’m trying to battle my coach, that there’s a war between us but I have no problem with my coach. Sometimes I disagree with him and sometimes he disagrees with me.”

The 76ers forced the Spurs into a season-high 20 turnovers and held San Antonio to 39% shooting (29 of 75).

“We should be embarrassed by our soft play,” Spur Coach Gregg Popovich said. “It was simple tonight, they were more physical than us. They put us down 10 and we never got back in it.”

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Seattle 102, Cleveland 100--Gary Payton made a 20-footer over Andre Miller with 0.9 seconds left at Seattle to give the SuperSonics their 13th consecutive victory over the Cavaliers.

Cleveland tied the score at 100-100 on a three-pointer by Lamond Murray with 7.6 seconds left.

Brent Barry then inbounded the ball to Rashard Lewis, who passed the ball to Payton, who hit the winning shot from just inside the three-point line.

After Payton’s basket, Miller lobbed the inbounds pass to 7-footer Chris Mihm. Mihm touched the ball, but couldn’t get off a shot as time expired.

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Portland 92, Orlando 84--Damon Stoudamire scored 10 of his 25 points in the first quarter at Orlando, Fla., as the Trail Blazers ended their Eastern Conference road trip with 3-1 record.

The Blazers also got 19 points from Rasheed Wallace and 18 from Ruben Patterson.

The Magic had its four-game winning streak ended. Tracy McGrady led Orlando with 17 points.

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Indiana 97, Chicago 90--Jalen Rose rediscovered his shooting touch, scoring 38 points as the Pacers kept the Bulls winless on the road (0-18) this season.

Rose had scored only 18 points in his last three games, shooting eight of 32 from the field. He hit six of seven in the first half and never cooled off.

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Boston 104, Detroit 90--Paul Pierce scored 16 points to offset a poor shooting night by Antoine Walker as the Celtics won at Boston.

Walker finished with a season-low five points and saw his consecutive streak of scoring in double figures end at 126 games. Walker was one of 14 shooting but had 11 rebounds and seven assists.

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Toronto 94, Atlanta 91--Alvin Williams scored a career-high 28 points, including a three-pointer with 1.7 seconds left in overtime, to lead the Raptors at Toronto. Williams, whose previous best was 24 against Indiana on Dec. 19, scored seven points in overtime. Williams also had seven assists and seven rebounds.