Iverson too much for Seattle
PHILADELPHIA – Allen Iverson would almost always rather drive to the basket than settle for a jumper.
Seattle’s porous defense gave him ample opportunity to dart down the lane for all the easy baskets he wanted.
Iverson scored 41 points, John Salmons had 18 and Kyle Korver 17 to lead the Philadelphia 76ers over the SuperSonics 107-98 Monday.
While Iverson said he’s still slightly bothered by a sprained right ankle he injured Dec. 27 at Denver, it hardly showed as he finger-rolled his way to one of his top shooting nights of the season.
“It’s getting a lot better with treatment and everything, and I’m able to push off it like I want to,” Iverson said. “Once it gets loose, I’m able to move around like I want to. I try to get to the basket.”
Certainly returning home provided an immediate fix for the slumping Sixers. When they left for a 15-day, seven-game road trip, they were in first place in the Atlantic Division; they returned four games back in the division race after a 2-5 mark.
“If we closed games out better, we’d have a lot more wins,” Iverson said. “I honesty feel like we gave away eight games this season, games we should have won.”
The Sonics have been just as bad, finishing 1-4 on a road trip that saw them fire Bob Weiss and replace him with Bob Hill. Hill promised a quicker pace and improvement on defense as ways to turn around Seattle’s disappointing season.
Well, Seattle’s league-worst defense still needs some work.
Iverson scored 40-plus points for the eighth time this season as he chases Kobe Bryant for the league scoring title. Iverson wasn’t the only one getting open looks – the Sixers shot 53 percent from the floor, seven points higher than their average.
Chris Webber sat out with a lower back strain and was listed as day-to-day. Coach Maurice Cheeks was hopeful that some rest would allow Webber to return for Wednesday’s game against Utah.
Salmons started in Webber’s place and hardly missed a beat on 7-for-9 shooting. Andre Iguodala had 16 points and Samuel Dalembert 11 to put all five starters in double digits.
“That’s how you should play,” Iverson said. “When you do share the ball, nine times out of 10, more positive results come of it.”
Ray Allen led the Sonics with 27 points and Vladimir Radmanovic had 15 points and 12 rebounds.
The Sonics rallied from a 19-point deficit to pull within six late in the fourth quarter – hardly surprising since only Seattle allows more points than the Sixers – following a pair of 3-pointers by Allen and a couple of free throws from Rashard Lewis.
Korver, though, sank his fifth 3-pointer and Salmons added a 3 of his own to build the lead back to nine. Stuck on 39 points for a while, Iverson sank two free throws to push him over 40 and give the Sixers a 106-95 lead.