The Philadelphia 76ers are tired after playing six games in eight days. Thanks to Allen Iverson, they had more than enough energy to beat the Memphis Grizzlies.
Iverson scored 33 points as Philadelphia beat Memphis 95-88 Wednesday night, keeping the Grizzlies the NBA's only winless team with their 12th straight loss.
Philadelphia coach Larry Brown wasn't worried about becoming the
first team to lose to the Grizzlies this season.
"I was really impressed with them. I knew it would be a hard game,'' he said. "I just wanted to figure out a way we could hang on. We had some tired guys out there. Allen stepped up, and we had some tremendous defensive stops, and we got a win.''
The 76ers won for only the second time in six road games this
season and got a measure of revenge against Memphis, which swept
last season's two-game series. They lead the all-time series 11-3.
Todd MacCulloch had 15 points and 13 rebounds for Philadelphia.
Eric Snow added 14 points, Aaron McKie 12 and Keith Van Horn 10.
Stromile Swift set a Memphis record by blocking eight shots, and he also had 12 points and 16 rebounds. Rookie Drew Gooden led the Grizzlies with 21 points, Pau Gasol had 14 and Wesley Person added 12 off the bench.
Van Horn called it an ugly game but said the 76ers felt
fortunate to pull out a victory against a team desperate to win. He
said they didn't want to be the first club to lose to Memphis.
"It's definitely on your mind. It's almost like a fear not to be the first to lose,'' he said.
Philadelphia trailed only once, 24-22 in the first quarter, before Brian Skinner hit a pair of free throws and a layup for the lead. The 76ers led by as much as 13 twice, the last time at 54-41 on MacCulloch's layup off an assist by Iverson just before halftime.
The Grizzlies, playing their fourth game in six days and hoping
to give new coach Hubie Brown a victory, pulled to 67-63 when Earl
Watson capped an 8-0 run with a jumper with 1:54 left in the third.
But Iverson, scoreless in the quarter until then, answered with
a pair of 3-pointers. McKie added a jumper for a 75-63 lead after
three.
Gooden scored with 43.4 seconds left to pull the Grizzlies to
92-86, but that was as close as they would get.
Hubie Brown pointed out that he and his assistant coaches have been with the Grizzlies only eight days, playing three of four games against teams that went to the playoffs last season. He is using these games to evaluate his players.
"Are we happy tonight? Absolutely not. We're not happy at all,'' Hubie Brown said. "Give Iverson his due. He made two spectacular shots. I thought he had a rifle instead of his hand. It was just great, great pressure shots.''
Iverson started slowly after scoring a season-high 38 points Tuesday night in a loss to New Orleans. He missed five of his first six shots, turned the ball over three times and had just three points in the first quarter.
The 76ers opened the game with a 9-2 run, but Gooden scored six
points to help the Grizzlies rally. Mike Batiste's layup gave them
a two-point lead late in the first.
Then Iverson warmed up, scoring 13 in the second quarter as he
went 7-of-8 at the free-throw line.
Memphis seemed sluggish after losing 110-106 in overtime at Minnesota on Tuesday night. The Grizzlies shot just 6-of-24 from the floor in the second quarter and finished shooting 39 percent (33-of-84).
Game notes
Swift had seven blocks in the first half. The team record for blocks had been shared by Gasol, who had seven twice last season as a rookie, and Bryant Reeves. ... Derrick Coleman, in just his second game this season, had just one point in 14 minutes for Philadelphia. ... Memphis guard Jason Williams sprained his left foot with 4 minutes left as he landed on Eric Snow's foot after tossing up a 3-point attempt. Williams walked off the court on his
own, but had to be helped to the locker room. X-rays were planned for Thursday.
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