76ers Continue Winning Ways

Allen Iverson's elbow doesn't bother him when he's at the foul line.

Iverson missed 23 of 35 shots, but made all 12 of his free throws and scored 38 points to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 94-89 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night. The NBA's reigning MVP made four jumpers in the fourth quarter and six free throw in the final 91 seconds, showing that he's almost recovered from an elbow injury that forced him to miss the first five games of the season.

"A lot of times he has had to step it up and take the shots at the end of the game," Sixers coach Larry Brown said. "It's a credit to him. He's not 100 percent."

Dikembe Mutombo scored 13 points and 14 rebounds, and Aaron McKie added 15 points and nine rebounds for the Sixers.

The defending Eastern Conference champions have won six straight after opening with five consecutive losses.

Clifford Robinson scored 35 points and Jon Barry added 14 for Detroit, which lost leading-scorer Jerry Stackhouse to a groin injury in the third quarter.

Stackhouse, averaging 24.3 points, had four points on 2-for-9 shooting. Pistons coach Rick Carlisle said the injury doesn't appear to be serious.

"We played well at times, but other times we were a step behind," Carlisle said. "When you play a guy like Iverson, you have to be perfect defensively."

Detroit, off to its best start in 11 years, had won three straight, six of seven and seven of its first nine.

Derrick Coleman scored 16 points for the Sixers, but left the game after spraining his left ankle in the fourth quarter. Brown said he expects Coleman to miss Friday's game against Cleveland, but isn't sure if he'll return on Sunday.

Detroit, which led by 12 in the third quarter, cut it to 86-85 on a jumper by Robinson with 2:26 left. Dana Barros then missed a jumper that would've given the Pistons the lead, and Iverson made two free throws to make it 88-85.

After a free throw by Robinson, Iverson made two more free throws for a 90-86 lead. Iverson iced it with another pair of free throws with 13.6 seconds left after Robinson missed one of two.

"It's chemistry more than anything," Iverson said. "This is my team. I think with me not on the floor, it's just a different team. We're better when I am on the floor. We went to the finals last year. Then we started off this year without me, Aaron and Eric Snow and it was just a different team.

Iverson tied the game at 72 on a 3-pointer two minutes into the fourth. Coleman made it 74-72 on a short jumper, but left the game after injuring his ankle when he stepped on Corliss Williamson's foot.

After a free throw by Williamson, Matt Harpring and Iverson each made two free throws to make it 78-73.

Iverson then capped a 13-1 run with a jumper, giving the Sixers an 80-73 lead.

"We made plays we needed to make down the stretch," McKie said.

Detroit overcame a 13-point deficit in the first half, closed the second quarter with a 19-4 run and took a 44-40 halftime lead. Robinson had eight points during the run.

Iverson and Coleman scored 20 of Philadelphia's 26 points in the first quarter, including 14 of the first 16.

"We were right there with those guys," Robinson said. "I think we stack up. We were right there. We had an opportunity to win."

Notes:
Sixers center Matt Geiger retired because of an arthritic condition in both knees. ... Philadelphia has won 10 of 13 against the Pistons, including seven straight at the First Union Center. ... Stackhouse, selected by the Sixers with the No. 3 overall in the 1995 draft, was booed loudly during pregame introductions. ... The Pistons outscored the Sixers 33-10 from 5:07 of the second to 5:52 of the third.

(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Author: 6 - ABC, Action News