House Irked by Iverson

Eddie House said Thursday that he hadn’t gone headhunting for Allen Iverson on Wednesday night and seemed to resent the implication by the Philadelphia 76er star that he had.

“I ain’t no dirty player,” he said. “I don’t play dirty.”

House, in his first start at guard for the Clippers, provoked a reaction from Iverson that longtime observers said they had rarely, if ever, seen.

Iverson became enraged after absorbing a blow to the head from House while driving to the basket in the second quarter of a 100-80 76er victory. The NBA scoring leader took off after the Clipper guard, only to be restrained by teammate John Salmons, who wrapped Iverson in his arms.

Later, the 76er guard thanked Salmons for interceding because “only God knows” what might have happened if he’d reached House, who was called for a flagrant foul after the officials changed their initial ruling of a two-shot foul.

Iverson, who scored 20 points, said House had hit him in the face in the first quarter, “and I didn’t pay it no mind.”

“But I knew he was still coming, and I had the easy layup, and then he hit me in the head. I really don’t care when guys hit me in my arms, my chest, my leg, anything like that real hard. But when you hit me in my face or my head, it’s a different story. It was a hard foul.

“Afterward, he kept saying, ‘It was just a hard foul, it was just a hard foul.’ Well, it was a flagrant foul, so obviously it wasn’t just a hard foul. I just didn’t like it. And I wanted to let him know I didn’t like it.”

House got the message but didn’t understand the commotion.

“I was playing basketball,” he said Thursday. “I don’t care how he took it. It wasn’t like I was going after him, trying to do it....

“If he took it like that, that’s how he took it. I can’t help that. I can’t dictate how somebody else is going to take something, you know what I mean?”

He didn’t seem threatened.

“That just fed into his ego,” he said of Iverson’s postgame comments. “I guess he had to say something, like he was really going to do something.”

TONIGHT

at Toronto, 4 PST

Site -- Air Canada Centre.

Radio -- XTRA (690/1150).

Records -- Clippers 14-18, Raptors 18-15.

Record vs. Raptors -- 0-1.

Update -- The Clippers, already missing suspended forward Corey Maggette, might also be without guard Quentin Richardson, who is questionable after suffering a sprained right hand Wednesday. Richardson said his hand was more sore when he woke Thursday than it had been the night before but indicated he would try to play.