Iverson Sorry For Absence
Allen Iverson won’t say why he missed practice, although he is sorry. And that’s good enough for Philadelphia 76ers coach Larry Brown.
“I made a mistake and I’m sorry and I apologized for it,” the star guard said Tuesday at the team’s suburban practice facility.
Iverson skipped practice Sunday in New York and was suspended for Monday night’s game against Boston.
Iverson said Brown’s decision was fair, and the coach wants to put the matter to rest.
“He would be a senior in college,” Brown said of the 22-year-old player. “He’s a young kid. I haven’t been around anybody that hasn’t made a mistake.”
Iverson is the first player Brown has suspended since he began coaching pro basketball.
Derrick Coleman, sidelined since Nov. 21 with an irregular heartbeat, has been cleared to play. But he isn’t expected to be in the Philadelphia 76ers’ lineup tonight against Minnesota.
Coleman practiced with the 76ers on Tuesday at their facility in suburban Philadelphia, one day after a follow-up visit to team cardiologist Dr. Fred Bove.
“At present, his electrocardiogram indicates his heart rhythm is normal,” Bove said in a release issued by the team. “His medication seems to be holding his heart rhythm stable and his cardiac status is now adequate for him to return to play.”
Mavs activate Pack
The Dallas Mavericks activated guard Robert Pack and placed guard Erick Strickland on the injured list with soreness in his right ankle.
Pack hasn’t played this season because he suffered a broken bone in his left hand during the preseason.
The Boston Celtics placed center Travis Knight on the injured list with a sprained left ankle.
Blazer ‘Mr. Europe 1997’
Portland Trail Blazers center Arvydas Sabonis was named “Mr. Europe 1997” by Italian basketball magazine Giganti del Basket.
The 32-year-old Sabonis, a native of Lithuania, also won the award in 1985 and was runner-up four times. Toni Kukoc of the Chicago Bulls, who was second in the voting, won the award in 1996.
On the court
Utah’s backcourt of John Stockton and Jeff Hornacek sparked a 10-0 run to start the second half as the Jazz beat the Miami Heat for the seventh straight time, 103-95 on Tuesday night in Miami.
Utah entered the game with a three-game road losing streak, but had not lost at the Miami Arena since Nov. 19, 1991.
Karl Malone scored 29 points for the Jazz, but it was Stockton and Hornacek that led the third-quarter surge. Hornacek finished with 18 points and Stockton had 14.
Eddie Jones scored 32 points as the Los Angeles Lakers remained undefeated against the Midwest Division with a 109-96 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Minneapolis.
Elden Campbell, playing his 13th game at center in place of injured Shaquille O’Neal, added 22 points for the Lakers, who improved to 12-0 against the Midwest.
Patrick Ewing scored 31 points and made New York’s only two field goals in the last 6-1/2 minutes as the Knicks, despite nearly blowing a late 17-point lead, held off the Detroit Pistons 83-78 in New York.