Iverson can’t beat 76ers but keeps berating them

Allen Iverson took plenty of shots at his former team, before, during and after the game. It didn’t add up to a victory, though.

Kyle Korver scored 26 points to help the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Nuggets, 108-97, Tuesday night at Denver in Iverson’s first game against his former team.

Iverson scored 30 points on 10-for-24 shooting before being ejected after his second technical foul with 1:44 left.

Iverson’s best shots, however, came before tip-off when he again criticized the team that traded him to Denver in December, repeating his contention that he should have had more say.

“When you’re losing basketball games, 12 of 14, 18 of 20 basketball games, you should listen to somebody, because something obviously isn’t working,” he said.

“Honestly I hope it goes away, but every time we play the Sixers, I know it is going to come back,” said Iverson, who ignored 76ers Coach Maurice Cheeks. “I just want to be a Denver Nugget and not dwell on things that happened in Philadelphia. I owe it to my teammates to just play basketball. I was frustrated tonight because I didn’t play as well as I can play.”

Iverson also had a parting shot for referee Steve Javie, who ejected him.

“I thought I got fouled on that play, and I said I thought that he was calling the game personal, and he threw me out,” Iverson said. “His fuse is real short anyway, and I should have known that I couldn’t say anything anyway. It’s been something personal with me and him since I got in the league. This was just the perfect game for him to try and make me look bad.”

On the other side, the 76ers’ Andre Miller had 17 points and 10 assists against his former team. He also ignored his old coach, George Karl.

“He didn’t return calls to me when he played here. Why would he call me now?” Karl said.

Phoenix 97, Chicago 96 -- Leandro Barbosa made a three-pointer with 1.5 seconds left to cap the Suns’ comeback from a 16-point first-half deficit at Chicago.

Ben Gordon, who finished with 41 points, had given the Bulls a 96-94 lead by making two free throws with 5.2 seconds left. After a timeout, the Suns’ Boris Diaw caught the inbound pass and passed to Barbosa at the top of the key for the winning shot. Phoenix rallied by outscoring Chicago, 34-23, in the fourth quarter.

Barbosa finished with 20 points, and Stoudemire led the Suns with 24 points and 18 rebounds.

Cleveland 82, San Antonio 78 -- The Cavaliers swept the season series by holding the Spurs to 10 points in the third quarter and outscoring them by 10 in the fourth at Cleveland.

Damon Jones made two three-pointers and four free throws in the final 1:35 for the Cavaliers. LeBron James scored 19 points.

Tony Parker had 26 points for the Spurs.

Sacramento 112, New York 100 -- Scoreless in his previous game, Ron Artest had a career-high 39 points for the Kings at Sacramento.

Artest made 15 of his first 19 shots and made three three-pointers and scored 13 points in the fourth quarter. He had scored only 15 points in three games since returning from a self-imposed two-game rest for sore knees that the team didn’t know he had. He finished 15 for 22 from the field.

Jamal Crawford had 28 points for New York.

Dallas 112, Seattle 88 -- The Mavericks extended their winning streak to 11 games behind Dirk Nowitzki’s 31 points and season-high 15 rebounds. He had sat out the previous game because of a sinus infection.

Ray Allen scored 27 points for Seattle.

Golden State 97, New Orleans 89 -- Baron Davis and Matt Barnes had 29 points apiece at Oklahoma City to lead the Warriors.

Rasual Butler scored 30 points for the Hornets.