Kid's Sports Journal

PHILADELPHIA(AP) Allen Iverson and the 76ers' reunion tour kicked off with a fantastic opening act.

A full house, video tribute and enough No. 3 jerseys in the crowd to fill two or three merchandise stands. Iverson kissed the 76ers logo, danced with his teammates and bowed to his adoring fans.

All they need to do now is work on the finish. Fans came for No. 3 and stayed for No. 10 - Philadelphia's 10th straight loss.

Chauncey Billups scored 31 points and Carmelo Anthony had 14 to help the Denver Nuggets spoil Iverson's return to Philadelphia with a 93-83 win over the 76ers on Monday night.

''I just felt like I was back home,'' Iverson said. ''It was deja vu. Just a real good feeling. The fans made it hard on me because they made me more nervous than I already was.''

The Nuggets did their share to ruin Iverson's homecoming. Denver scored the first 14 points of the fourth quarter to rally for its fourth straight win.

Iverson's old team improved to 16-5; his new-again team fell to 5-16.

''It was a positive experience to be part of A.I. returning,'' Nuggets coach George Karl said. ''I thought he fatigued as the game went on and we got the benefit of it. He's not in the best of shape yet.''

Iverson received a standing ovation when he left in the fourth quarter. He scored 11 points on 4-for-11 shooting and had six assists in 37 minutes.

Iverson's rousing return did little to mask the fact that the Sixers are a lousy team. Only one-win New Jersey has a worse record in the Eastern Conference.

''I haven't been here long enough to put a finger on one or two things (wrong),'' Iverson said.

''Tonight, with the way the guys competed, I don't know how they lost nine games in a row. I couldn't see it, not from the team I was playing with tonight. We'll get it together, believe me.''

Andre Iguodala led the Sixers with 31 points, Thaddeus Young had 21 and Samuel Dalembert grabbed 15 rebounds.

But this night for the Sixers was all about Iverson in his first game with the team since he was traded in 2006. A sellout crowd of 20,664 stood and roared in approval when Iverson was introduced and planted the kiss on the centercourt logo.

Iverson missed his first shot, a makable layup early in the first quarter. His first points came off a 4-footer he tossed up off a Dalembert miss.

Energized by the emotional pregame show, the 76ers played one of their strongest quarters of the season. Iguodala, who bristled at the end of Iverson's first tenure at being labeled ''AI2,'' scored 14 points to show this was still his team.

It's still Iverson's crowd.

The building hummed every time he touched the ball, and each basket was cheered as if it were a playoff winner.

Iverson played sparingly in his three-game stint with Memphis and feared he'd be out of game shape for his debut. He played all but 1 second of the first quarter and sat out in the second half mostly because of three fouls by the middle of the third quarter.

Backed by 18 points from Iguodala and 10 from Thaddeus Young , the Sixers led 44-41 at the break.

They stretched that lead to nine when Iverson tossed a floater toward the basket that Dalembert slammed in for the alley-oop and had the Sixers feeling like their losing streak would be history.

Instead, only their lead evaporated.

Billups, traded from Detroit in last year's Iverson deal, showed why Denver was so eager to make the move. He sank a pair of 3s and worked his way to the free-throw line to score 13 points in the quarter and whittle the deficit to three.

Iverson was helpless in the fourth. Smith sank a pair of free throws to give Denver its first lead of the game, 67-65.

Billups and Smith each hit a 3 during a staggering 22-3 run that let the Nuggets take control of the game.

Billups nailed a late 3 for an 89-77 lead that sent the fans heading toward the exits.

''I was just being aggressive,'' Billups said. ''I knew Melo wasn't having a big night.''

The pregame show was worth the price of admission.

Iverson pulled in to the player's parking lot at 5:55 p.m., waving to fans who waited in the cold for a glimpse of one of the most polarizing athletes in Philadelphia's deep sports history.

He hit the court for warmups to the sound of fans screaming his name and holding ''Welcome Home'' signs. He hit shot after shot to the delight of the crowd and broke out in a wide smile as they erupted in cheers.

Iverson always considered Philly home and dreamed of a return to the team he led to the 2001 NBA finals.He just pictured a different outcome.

LOS ANGELES(AP) When the New Jersey Nets finally reached an inauspicious NBA record, the Staples Center's public address announcer let the crowd know all about it.

At least he had the tact to wait until the Nets were out of earshot after their 17th straight loss.

The undermanned, undertalented Nets matched the worst start to an NBA season Sunday night, with Kobe Bryant scoring 30 points in the Los Angeles Lakers ' 106-87 victory.

A few hours after New Jersey fired coach Lawrence Frank, the Nets had little prayer of keeping up with the defending league champions, who won their sixth straight game. Despite apparently playing hard for temporary head coach Tom Barrise, New Jersey fell behind by 27 points in the first half and went into history with yet another whimper.

''I wish I could explain it,'' said New Jersey guard Chris Douglas-Roberts, who only lost 10 games in his three collegiate seasons at Memphis. ''There's not really anything good out of this. I try to stay positive, but it's extremely hard to stay positive. All the things going on, it's depressing.''

The Nets were in the locker room, shaking their heads and packing for an uncertain trip home, before the crowd was told New Jersey's 0-17 start matched the 1988-89 Miami Heat and the 1999 Los Angeles Clippers in hoops futility.

''You have four-game losing streaks, three-game losing streaks, and you can deal with that,'' said Barrise, whose tenure might last just one game. ''When you go a whole month, you wake up and you feel it. You honestly do feel it.''

New Jersey must beat the Dallas Mavericks back home in the East Rutherford swamp on Wednesday night - perhaps while playing for the club's third coach in three games - to avoid sole possession of an embarrassing NBA record.

''I don't want to be associated with it,'' said Devin Harris , who scored 16 points for the Nets. ''That's one record you don't ever want to be a part of.''

The NBA's lowest-scoring and worst-shooting team lived up to its dire statistics, managing just 60 points on 38.7-percent shooting in the first three periods before a strong fourth quarter against Los Angeles' reserves. Although New Jersey consistently tried to match up on defense, the Nets don't have a fraction of the Lakers' talent.

''Obviously, we didn't want them to have a chance against us,'' said Pau Gasol , whose Memphis Grizzlies opened the 2003-04 season 0-13. ''We didn't want to fall asleep, or relax and lose.''

Gasol had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, who cruised to their 12th win in 14 games. Jordan Farmar added 15 points as the Lakers made 13 of their 25 3-point attempts, including five by Bryant and three for Farmar.

Brook Lopez had 26 points and 12 rebounds for New Jersey, which went scoreless for nearly 4 1/2 minutes in the first quarter while Los Angeles posted 13 straight points to build a 27-10 lead.

Bryant's fourth 3-pointer of the first half put Los Angeles up 57-30 shortly before halftime. The Lakers led by 34 midway through the third quarter, and Bryant left the game with 4:14 left in the third.

''You don't wish that on anybody,'' Bryant said of the Nets' skid. ''That's tough.''
The Nets didn't wait until returning from their four-game West Coast trip before dumping Frank, the winningest coach in franchise history and the Eastern Conference's longest-tenured coach.

Although eight Nets already have missed multiple games this season with injuries after New Jersey traded star Vince Carter in the offseason, Frank was held responsible for the woeful start, which included three straight double-digit losses earlier on this trip.

Guard Rafer Alston compared the Nets' roster to an awful poker hand, saying Frank ''wasn't dealt a royal flush. It's almost like he had a pair of 2's, and he tried to fight.''

''The day started off with negative energy,'' said Douglas-Roberts, who had just five points on 2-of-11 shooting. ''A lot of the staff was sad. It was hard to prepare for today's game. ... We're letting this really affect us, but we're not using it as motivation. We're not using it in a good way, and it's showing.''

Barrise, Frank's assistant since the start of his tenure in early 2004, could be just a one-game replacement. Nets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe - who attended the game - and assistant John Loyer are considered the top candidates to replace Frank for the rest of the season.

''We're struggling, and it was a tough day,'' Barrise said. ''You lose your coach at 10 o'clock in the morning - you know, the guys are human. You lose a little bit of that focus. ... It's mentally a tough thing to deal with right now, but they're professionals, and they've been professionals all month long.''

Barrise made the most of perhaps his only chance to be an NBA head coach. The former bench boss at Ramapo College in Mahwah, N.J., stood for nearly every minute of the game, clapping for his players' successes and stomping his feet in disgust at their many foibles.

''It's a difficult thing,'' Barrise said. ''But we have a great group of guys, and they're working hard at it.''

Copyright 2009 Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) -- Jason Kidd moved into second place on the NBA's career assists list during the Dallas Mavericks' game with the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.

Kidd had 10,330 assists entering the game, and needed five more to pass Mark Jackson (10,334). Kidd got No. 5 on an alley-oop pass to Rodrigue Beaubois for a dunk with 10:53 left in the third quarter.

John Stockton is the NBA's career assists leader (15,806).

NEW YORK (AP) Paul Pierce carried the Celtics all game while the rest of the Big Three struggled.

So when it came time for the winning shot, of course Pierce would take it.

That's what the New York Knicks seemed to think, anyway.

Instead, Pierce swung it to a wide-open Kevin Garnett, whose jumper beat the overtime buzzer to give Boston a 107-105 victory Sunday.

“I knew they were going to sort of follow Paul and he's going to draw a lot of attention,” Garnett said, “and I just had to make the shot.”

Garnett hadn't made many, going 4 of 15 in what he said was an average to below-average performance. Yet Pierce suggested the final play to coach Doc Rivers and it worked perfectly.

“He's that type of player,” Pierce said. “You're talking about a Hall of Fame player. He's missed millions of shots. He's going to keep playing, going to keep taking shots when he gets an opportunity. He really stepped up big for our team when we needed it.”

Pierce scored a season-high 33 points, and had all of Boston's points in overtime until the final play. Two Knicks followed him, leaving Garnett alone at the top of the key for his 19-footer.

“I am expecting Pierce to try and make a move and pull up,” said David Lee, one of the defenders who followed Pierce.

“Good play by them and it's just unfortunate to lose a game like this.”

Garnett and Ray Allen had miserable shooting performances, but Rajon Rondo finished with 14 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds as Boston won for the second time in five games.

Reserve Al Harrington scored 30 points and Lee had 22 points and 15 rebounds for the Knicks, who had won their previous two games. They apparently were supposed to use their foul to give on the final play, a disappointing end to an otherwise strong performance.

“We wanted to give the foul if Paul Pierce was going to the hole but that never happened,” Harrington said. “It's frustrating, but we played extremely hard.”

The Celtics opened a big lead and blew all of it in a seesaw third quarter, then rallied to force overtime and improve to 17-4 against the Knicks since the 2004-05 season.

The Celtics, whom Rivers said had been playing “awful” recently, needed a big afternoon from Pierce while his remaining All-Star teammates struggled. Allen was 3 of 13 for his 13 points and Garnett scored 10.

Both made big shots late in regulation, though, and Kendrick Perkins chipped in with 16 points and 13 rebounds.

“We played better today. Not the way we'd like to, of course, but better,” Pierce said. “We're going to build on that. We're still a work in progess.”

Nate Robinson rebounded from his poor decision Saturday to shoot at the wrong basket with a strong game Sunday, scoring 19 points off the bench. The Knicks fell to 3-10 in the opener of consecutive games against the last two NBA champions; they start a three-game trip Tuesday against the Los Angeles Lakers .

“It makes it tough, because we're on the road right now in the West,” Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said. “That's not fun. There are a lot of games, just as long as we keep playing and keep playing hard.”

Pierce's free throws capped an 11-0 run out of halftime and made it 67-53. The Knicks had more passes into the seats (2) than baskets (1) in the first four minutes of the third quarter, then suddenly turned it around as quickly as they'd fallen apart.

Harrington made three 3-pointers in a 20-6 surge that tied it at 75, Robinson made a 3 to snap a 77-all tie, and Harrington's follow shot made it 82-77 heading to the fourth.

New York led for nearly the entire period before Allen's 3-pointer gave Boston a 96-94 advantage with 2:47 left. Lee tied it again with 1:19 to play, but Garnett knocked down a jumper 12 seconds later.

The Knicks got the ball back following a couple of questionable calls and no-calls and tied it on Harrington's free throws with 4.7 seconds remaining. Rondo missed a 3-pointer as time expired.

Eddy Curry had six points in his first home game since March 2008. He received a decent ovation when he checked in with 3:32 left in the first quarter, then departed after shoving Rondo down and getting whistled for a flagrant foul with 5:21 remaining in the fourth.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two Los Angeles Clippers basketball broadcasters were suspended one game by the Fox Sports Prime Ticket cable network for their comments about an Iranian-born NBA player.

Longtime play-by-play announcer Ralph Lawler and color analyst Michael Smith made their off-the-cuff comments about the Memphis Grizzlies center Hamed Haddadi during Wednesday night's telecast from Memphis. The on-air banter, which includes remarks to Borat actor Sacha Baron Cohen, offended a viewer who e-mailed Fox to complain.

The duo did not work Friday's night telecast against the Denver Nuggets at Staples Center. Michael Eaves and Don MacLean, who regularly serve as halftime and postgame analysts on the Clippers telecasts, substituted for Lawler and Smith at courtside.

Lawler, 71, is in his 31st season doing Clippers games, and Smith is in his 12th. Lawler has surpassed 2,400 regular season and playoff Clippers broadcasts in his career, according to the team's Web site.

"We regret the remarks made by Clippers announcers Michael Smith and Ralph Lawler during Wednesday's telecast," Fox said in a statement about 2½ hours before the game. "While we believe that Michael and Ralph did not intend their exchange to be offensive, the comments were inappropriate.

"We extend our apologies to Hamed Haddadi of the Memphis Grizzlies and to anyone who was offended. We have addressed the situation with Michael and Ralph and have taken appropriate action."

The Clippers did not comment.

The transcript of the conversation between Lawler and Smith, which occurred late in the game, was printed on the Los Angeles Times' Web site:

Smith: "Look who's in."

Lawler: "Hamed Haddadi. Where's he from?"

Smith: "He's the first Iranian to play in the NBA." (Smith pronounced Iranian as "Eye-ranian," a pronunciation that offended the viewer who complained.)

Lawler: "There aren't any Iranian players in the NBA," repeating Smith's mispronunciation.

Smith: "He's the only one."

Lawler: "He's from Iran?"

Smith: "I guess so."

Lawler: "That Iran?"

Smith: "Yes."

Lawler: "The real Iran?"

Smith: "Yes."

Lawler: "Wow. Haddadi that's H-A-D-D-A-D-I."

Smith: "You're sure it's not Borat's older brother?"

Smith: "If they ever make a movie about Haddadi, I'm going to get Sacha Baron Cohen to play the part."

Lawler: "Here's Haddadi. Nice little back-door pass. I guess those Iranians can pass the ball."

Smith: "Especially the post players.

Lawler: "I don't know about their guards."