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Archive for Tuesday, January 8, 2002

NBA Roundup: Iverson has triple double

Point guard leads Sixers past Clippers, 116-92

January 8, 2002

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— Allen Iverson skied for the basketball, tipped a missed shot to Matt Harpring and got a rebound and assist on the same play.

With that, Iverson recorded his first career triple-double, helping the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Los Angeles Clippers 116-92 on Monday night.

Boston's Paul Pierce, left, outruns Orlando's Jud Buechler in a
race for a possession on Monday night. The Magic stopped the
Celtics, 98-87.

Boston's Paul Pierce, left, outruns Orlando's Jud Buechler in a race for a possession on Monday night. The Magic stopped the Celtics, 98-87.

"My teammates did a great job finishing shots, getting me the ball and boxing out," said Iverson, who finished with 30 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. "It feels good to finally get one. It took me six years."

The defending Eastern Conference champions have won three of four after losing 13 of 18.

Quentin Richardson scored 21 and Corey Maggette added 16 for Los Angeles, which had won three of four, including two straight.

The Sixers never trailed after the first basket, had runs of 14-4 in the first quarter, 19-5 in the second and opened a 22-point lead in the third.

"We just didn't play well," Clippers coach Alvin Gentry said. "That's the bottom line. It's one of the few games where I don't think we competed very hard. This team is very good half-court defensively. You have to be able to make sharp cuts and good screens and we didn't do that."

Harpring had 19 points and 12 rebounds, Dikembe Mutombo had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Aaron McKie added 14 points for the Sixers, who shot 51.6 percent.

It was Philadelphia's first game at the First Union Center since Dec. 21, following a seven-game road trip through the West. The players wore headbands for the fourth straight game, a sign of unity after the latest rumor that coach Larry Brown is going to quit.

Brown wore a headband that said "Go Eagles" at his post-game news conference. The NFC East champion Eagles play Tampa Bay in an NFC wild-card playoff game on Saturday.

"I was concerned about this game because I thought we'd be tired," Brown said. "We started out with such life. I think when you start out and it is too easy, it is very difficult when a team comes back at you. We handled it very well."

The closest the Clippers got was 32-31 after a 13-2 run midway through the second. But Derrick Coleman scored on a layup, McKie hit a fadeaway jumper, Coleman made a short jumper and the Sixers outscored Los Angeles 21-7.

Timberwolves 109,

Pistons 93

Minneapolis Kevin Garnett scored 23 points and Gary Trent had a season-high 20 as the Wolves won their fifth straight.

Garnett added 12 rebounds and Trent 10 as the Wolves dominated the boards, outrebounding the Pistons 51-30. Minnesota had six players in double figures.

The Wolves erased an early seven-point deficit with their most productive quarter of the season. Minnesota scored 38 points in the second quarter, with Trent scoring eight during a decisive 27-10 run.

Trent's three-point play with 3:21 left in the third quarter gave the Wolves their biggest lead, 85-62.

The Pistons closed the quarter on an 11-2 run to cut the deficit to 87-73, but could get no closer.

Jerry Stackhouse, who led Detroit with 24 points and 10 assists, hit consecutive 3-pointers to pull Detroit to 94-80, but Chauncey Billups' 3-pointer and Trent's turnaround jumper made it 101-82 with 7:51 to play.

Trent was starting his fifth consecutive game in place of the injured Joe Smith.

He has averaged 13 points and nine rebounds in those games and the Wolves have won them all.

The Pistons have lost 10 of their last 12 games overall and eight straight to the Timberwolves.

Sonics 100,

Bulls 88

Chicago Gary Payton scored 26 points, leading the Seattle SuperSonics to their eighth win in nine games.

Vin Baker added 13 points and Rashard Lewis had 12 for the Sonics, who scored 32 points off of 25 Chicago turnovers. The Sonics also dominated the Bulls inside, getting 48 points in the paint.

Ron Artest scored 26 points and Ron Mercer added 16 for the Bulls, who have lost four straight after winning their first two under coach Bill Cartwright. The Bulls led by as many as nine in the first quarter and shot 63 percent from the field on their way to a 25-20 lead.

A pair of dunks by Tyson Chandler extended Chicago's lead to 31-20 early in the second before Seattle scored on eight straight possessions and went on a 17-2 run to take a 43-38 lead with 4:38 left in the half.

The Sonics led 47-46 at the half despite 57 percent shooting by the Bulls. Lewis had 10 points and four steals.

Seattle boosted its lead quickly in the third as Chicago turned over the ball three times on its first four possessions. Layups or dunks from Baker, Brent Barry and two from Payton made it 55-48.

Payton scored 10 points in the quarter, all on layups or free throws. The Bulls had seven turnovers in the period, and the Sonics turned the mistakes into 12 points.

Trail Blazers 98, Cavaliers 72

Cleveland Dale Davis scored 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. Seven of Davis' rebounds came at the offensive end as the Trail Blazers dominated every aspect in winning the first of four road games in five nights.

It became so bad for Cleveland that guard Bimbo Coles scored a basket for the Blazers with 4:30 remaining. Coles tried to block a pass inside and the ball glanced off his hand, over his head and into the basket, giving Portland a 92-63 lead. Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 11 points to lead Cleveland, which has lost six of eight and now embarks on a six-game Western trip.

Magic 98, Celtics 87

Orlando, Fla. Mike Miller had 27 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Tracy McGrady added 21 points for Orlando (18-18), which reached the .500 mark for the first time since Dec. 13. McGrady was limited by the flu, but still shot 9-for-18 with seven rebounds and six assists.

Paul Pierce had 20 for Boston, which lost for the fifth time in eight games.

Spurs 90, Knicks 79

San Antonio Tim Duncan scored 19 Monday night as the San Antonio Spurs held off the Knicks. A 3-point basket by Charles Smith put the Spurs up 81-68 with fewer than five minutes remaining, but the Knicks charged back with nine straight points to pull within four with 2:35 left.

Tim Duncan's foul shots reignited the Spurs, who finished the game with a 9-2 run. The backbreaker for the Knicks was a 3-pointer by Bruce Bowen that put San Antonio's edge back into double-digits with 43 seconds left.

Hornets 94, Nuggets 80

Charlotte, N.C. P.J. Brown, who missed Charlotte's previous game with a sprained ankle, had a career-high 22 rebound. Elden Campbell added 21 points and 18 rebounds. Brown grabbed 11 of his rebounds in the first quarter.

The Hornets scored 44 points in the paint, held the Nuggets to just nine offensive rebounds and held big men Raef LaFrentz, Scott Williams and James Posey to a combined 18 points and 12 rebounds.

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