Philadelphia ? The years of missed practices, criticism and hurt feelings melted away as soon as Allen Iverson wrapped his arms around Larry Brown.

Brown apologized for the controversy surrounding his return to Philadelphia after six seasons as coach. Iverson, his former All- Star and antagonist, told Brown all was forgiven.

“I told him not to worry about it, that I care about him and I wished him well,” Iverson said.

Then Iverson went out and spoiled Brown’s return, scoring 30 points in the 76ers’ 90-86 victory over the Detroit Pistons Wednesday night.

“I won and coach lost. I never had that feeling before,” Iverson said. “We always felt good together when we won and felt bad when we lost.”

Brown now knows what it feels like on the other end of a dominant Iverson performance. He also knows what it’s like being on the wrong side of the Philly fans.

The boos began for Brown when the former Philadelphia coach walked out during pregame warmups and reached a crescendo when he was introduced. Brown was serenaded with chants of “traitor” and “fraud” and fans yelled a derisive chant throughout the game.

Signs derided Brown, including one with his face on a turkey that read, “Yo Larry, Stuff It.”

“It was a great experience regardless of those chants,” Brown said. “My kids learned a bad word.”

Brown did not react to the insults, sitting hunched over with his elbows on his knees and his chin resting on his clasped hands.

DETROIT coach Larry Brown shouts instructions from the bench. The 76ers defeated the Pistons, 90-86, Wednesday night in Philadelphia.

While the sellout crowd of 20,512 fans turned on him, his former players only offered hugs and handshakes.

Derrick Coleman was first down the sideline for a hug, followed by Iverson. Iverson and Brown, whose relationship was more contentious than harmonious — exchanged a long embrace and a few words. Eric Snow, who went from seldom-used backup in Seattle to starting point guard under Brown, followed with a hug.

Before Aaron McKie checked in late in the first quarter, he also stopped by Brown for a quick hug.

Brown choked up when talking about the affectionate gestures by the Sixers.

“What happened to me tonight with those players validates everything,” Brown said.

Brown led the Sixers to the playoffs for five straight seasons, including the 2001 NBA Finals.

Jazz 83, Rockets 76

Salt Lake City — Andrei Kirilenko scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half and rookie Mo Williams scored a career-high 10 points in Utah’s win over Houston. Raul Lopez had 10 points and five assists in his third career start, scoring eight straight for the Jazz late in the fourth quarter to help Utah seal it and improve to 7-1 at home. The Jazz are 3-1 on their current six-game homestand. Yao Ming led Houston with 20 points and 10 rebounds, going 14-for-16 from the free-throw line to help make up for a 3-for-15 night from the field.

Suns 121, Mavericks 90

Phoenix — Penny Hardaway scored a season-high 20 points, including four three-pointers, leading Phoenix to its highest point total of the season. Stephon Marbury had his fifth consecutive double-double for the Suns, finishing with 18 points and 12 assists. The Suns, whose previous high this season was 100, won their fourth consecutive home game and evened their record at 7-7, the fourth time this season they have reached the .500 level.

Spurs 109, Bulls 98

San Antonio — Tim Duncan scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half and had 10 rebounds in San Antonio’s victory over Chicago. Manu Ginobili led the Spurs with 17 points and 11 rebounds, Tony Parker added 15 points and Ron Mercer had 12. Eddy Curry and Lonny Baxter had 19 points each for Chicago, which lost its second straight game under interim coach Pete Myers.

Celtics 94, Magic 92

Orlando, Fla. — Paul Pierce scored 15 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter to help Boston hold off Orlando, the Magic’s 14th straight loss. Pierce also had eight rebounds and six assists, Vin Baker added 19 points and Eric Williams had 15 for the Celtics, who ended a four-game losing streak. Tracy McGrady led the Magic with 24 points, but had only two in the fourth quarter and fouled out with 3:11 left. Donnell Harvey added 16 points. Pierce hit six of his first seven shots in the final quarter, the last a fallaway jumper from 18 feet that gave the Celtics an 85-78 lead with 6:10 left.

Raptors 99, Hawks 97

Atlanta — Vince Carter hit a jumper with 1.2 seconds left, part of a season-high 43 points, and Toronto rallied to beat Atlanta. Carter took an inbound pass from Alvin Williams after working off screens by Morris Peterson and Antonio Carter, then shot from about 17 feet over Dion Glover and Theo Ratliff. The ball swished through, giving Toronto its second road victory of the season. Glover ended up going through the legs of Davis while trying to stop Carter.

Carter forced overtime with a three-point play with 13.2 seconds left in regulation. He hit a twirling, over-the-shoulder layup over Glover and was fouled. His free throw tied it for the first time after the Hawks led throughout.

Hornets 82, Cavaliers 72

New Orleans — Baron Davis scored 26 points and had eight assists to lead New Orleans over former coach Paul Silas and Cleveland. David Wesley scored 21 points, and Jamaal Magloire added 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Hornets, who held a double-digit lead for most of the second half.

Cleveland struggled to stay close in losing its 30th straight road game dating to last season.

Zydrunas Ilkauskas led Cleveland with 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting. LeBron James struggled for his 15 points, but did have nine assists and eight rebounds.

James dunked on a fast break early in the game for his first points but didn’t hit an outside shot until the 4:38 mark of the third quarter. He was 5-of-17 from the field, with two of his baskets coming in the final minutes. James was guarded by Davis, an aggressive defender and one of the league leaders in steals 46. Davis only had one steal on James, but it allowed Davis to dribble in alone for an emphatic one-handed dunk.

Knicks 97, T’wolves 92

Minneapolis — Latrell Sprewell was a bust in his first game against his old team, and New York received a season-high 18 points and 17 rebounds from Dikembe Mutombo to hold off Minnesota. Sprewell had only five points on 2-for-11 shooting in his first game against the Knicks since being dealt to Minnesota in a four-team trade this summer.

He hugged his former teammates before tipoff, but was hardly heard from again. He continued his bad shooting after being held scoreless against Indiana Tuesday night.

Allan Houston, meanwhile, scored 13 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter. In his first game back after missing two games with a sore lower back, Houston scored six of New York’s final nine points to help the Knicks win their third straight and snap a four-game losing streak to the Wolves. Reserve Frank Williams had a career-high 17 points for the Knicks.

With New York up 88-87 with 2:54 left to play, Houston extended the advantage with a 12-footer and a pair of free throws. After a 20-footer by Kevin Garnett, Kurt Thomas added a jumper before Sam Cassell gave the Wolves some hope with a 3-pointer to make it 94-92 with 37.2 seconds left.

But Houston deflated Minnesota with a long jumper and Fred Hoiberg missed a three-pointer on Minnesota’s next possession. Charlie Ward added a free throw for New York.