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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Karl Malone had Danny Manning to lend a
hand. Allen Iverson had only himself.
Malone scored a season-high 41 points and Manning had 12 of his
16 points in the fourth quarter as the Utah Jazz rallied to beat
the Philadelphia 76ers 91-89 Wednesday night.
|  | | Karl Malone shoots over the 76ers' Todd MacCulloch in the second half. Malone had 41 points and 13 rebounds for Utah. |
The game marked Larry Brown's return to the Sixers after missing
two straight practices following a weekend dispute with the team
that included heated words from Iverson. His team led by as many as
16 but faltered down the stretch.
Iverson scored a season-high 45 points, but his desperation
3-pointer with 3.1 seconds left fell short.
Manning hit two foul shots to tie the game at 89, then hit a
jumper to make it 91-89 with 19.1 seconds left.
"We are putting too much pressure on one guy," Brown said.
"It was almost like a schoolyard game. He made some unbelievable
shots, but it makes it too easy to guard other people. We have to
execute better and get other guys involved.
"We can't win if one guy is scoring all the points. They defer
to him, and he did his best to try to win the game."
Iverson drove the lane for a tying basket, but passed to Toni
Kukoc, who was open for a 3-pointer from the baseline. Donyell
Marshall blocked Kukoc's shot and Iverson got the loose ball before
missing a long 3-point attempt. Kukoc got the rebound and tried to
step back for another 3-point attempt as time ran out.
"I don't fault Toni for trying a 3-pointer," Iverson said. "I
like the fact he was aggressive enough to try to put them away in
our house."
The Sixers didn't make a field goal in the fourth quarter until
Iverson scored on a driving layup to tie it at 78 with 5:36 left.
Utah snapped a two-game losing streak and won despite the
first-quarter ejection of coach Jerry Sloan.
Sloan held a longer practice than the regular morning
shootaround Wednesday even though Utah played at Toronto the night
before.
"It was spirited," said assistant coach Phil Johnson, who took
over for Sloan. "It was not a lot of yelling. We went back to the
basics."
Philadelphia, the last NBA team to lose a home game, has now
lost three straight at the First Union Center.
Malone shot 13-for-18 from the field and 15-for-20 from the foul
line. He scored just 12 points and was held scoreless in the second
half of a 103-95 loss at Toronto on Tuesday.
"We kept our composure down the stretch and didn't beat
ourselves," Malone said. "We made them play our game, got them in
foul trouble and a lot of guys stepped up."
Manning was the only other Jazz player to score in double
figures.
"Those are the shots I have to make because I am not blessed
with the great ability of these other guys," Manning said about
his game-winning jumper.
Theo Ratliff had 13 points and Tyrone Hill had nine points and
12 rebounds for the Sixers. Iverson scored 26 of his points in the
first half, was 15-for-34 from the field and 15-for-18 at the foul
line.
The turmoil for the Sixers began when Brown assailed the team
for its performance in an 18-point loss to Dallas last Friday.
Iverson told the coach in a meeting the next morning that he was
treating the players like they were losers and not the team with
the best record in the league (the Sixers are 18-7).
The two have had a contentious relationship since Brown's
arrival in Philadelphia four years ago, but both downplayed the
latest incident. Before the game, Brown said he was mainly unhappy
with himself, and he praised Iverson for his unselfish play this
season.
"It's perfect in a sense that Coach was back there and coached
us," Iverson said. "We put all that behind us when he came back.
It would've been perfect if we found a way to win."
Iverson looked like his old self against Utah, taking shots from
all over the floor and making several difficult ones with defenders
draped all over him.
Utah took its first lead of the game, 75-74, on a jumper by
Malone with 6:32 left.
Philadelphia opened a 16-point lead in the first half, but the
Jazz cut it to 36-32 with a 12-0 run. A 7-2 run gave the Sixers a
47-38 halftime lead.
Game notes
Sloan was ejected with 2:16 left in the first quarter after
receiving two technicals for arguing a foul by Jacque Vaughn on
Iverson. ... The Sixers hit their first 16 foul shots before Kukoc
missed with a minute left in the first half. ... Philadelphia did
not make a jump shot in the fourth quarter. ... Sixers center Matt
Geiger played 12 minutes despite having right quadriceps
tendinitis. He scored six points and was booed all night.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Utah Clubhouse
Philadelphia Clubhouse
Brown returns from much-needed break as Sixers coach
AthletesDirect: Karl Malone's official Web site
RECAPS
Boston 99
New Jersey 86
Toronto 99
Indiana 98
Charlotte 65
Miami 56
Dallas 106
Portland 101
Utah 91
Philadelphia 89
San Antonio 94
Cleveland 77
Denver 108
Detroit 106
Seattle 89
Sacramento 85
Vancouver 118
Washington 104
LA Clippers 103
Minnesota 96
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Karl Malone Official Site
Bryon Russell Official Site
Larry Brown Official Site
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