Allen Iverson's eighth career 40-point game had a nice little unexpected bonus -- a victory for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Iverson scored 41 points, upstaging Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, as the 76ers defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, 105-90, for their fourth win in five games.
In two-plus seasons, Iverson had seven previous games with 40 or more points and the 76ers lost them all. On February 12, the NBA scoring leader had a league season-high 46 points in a 98-94 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
"When I score 40 points, we've lost," Iverson said. "Tonight, we won, and I guess I finally got the monkey off my back. I didn't know what I had until I came out of the game at the end and looked up at the scoreboard. I saw what I had and said, `I hope it doesn't come back to haunt me.'"
Working primarily against Philadelphia native Bryant, Iverson shot 17-of-36 from the field. He scored between nine and 12 points in every period and added a season-high 10 assists and five rebounds.
"I wanted to get off to a good start," Iverson said. "Some earlier shots were going off the rim, then all of a sudden, my shots began to drop. My teammates began to get the ball to me, they did a good job as always of getting me the ball in the right spot, and I was able to make the big shots at the end."
"The little kid was phenomenal," Sixers coach Larry Brown said. "I had to take him out at the beginning just to calm him down because he was really wired. Yeah, he took a lot of shots, but for the most part, his selection was good."
With 55 seconds left, he exited to a thunderous ovation and a chant of "Beat LA" from the First Union Center crowd that recalled the rivalry between these teams from a generation ago.
O'Neal and Bryant scored 23 points each for the Lakers, who fell to 1-3 on their six-game road trip. Los Angeles has lost its last three meetings with Philadelphia, with Iverson averaging 34.3 points. The 76ers had not beaten the Lakers three straight times since the 1981-82 and 1982-83 seasons, when the teams met in consecutive NBA Finals.
"This team has come a long way," Brown said. "I hope we can keep a level head, where they can expect to play well against the good teams, as well as playing well against teams with records worse than theirs."
Lakers forward Dennis Rodman missed his fourth straight game due to an excused absence for personal reasons. With the mercurial Rodman in the lineup, Los Angeles is 9-0. Without him, it is just 8-9.
"We'll welcome him with open arms when he comes back," Lakers coach Kurt Rambis said. "But I have no idea when he's coming back."
"He's obviously a factor," O'Neal said. "He has personal problems, whatever that means, nobody really knows. I don't think about it. I know the organization will do what they have to do."
O'Neal was saddled by foul trouble, eventually fouling out with just four rebounds midway through the final period. He also missed 5-of-12 free throws and committed five turnovers.
Iverson thoroughly outplayed O'Neal and Bryant in the third quarter, when the Sixers took control. After a 3-pointer by Glen Rice -- his first basket of the game -- gave the Lakers a 56-54 lead, Iverson made a jumper and 3-pointer and set up two baskets during a 12-2 burst that gave Philadelphia a 66-58 lead with 5:50 remaining.
Iverson buried a 22-footer to trigger a 6-0 spurt. Tyrone Hill and Aaron Mckie made free throws before Iverson fed Theo Ratliff for a dunk and a 74-62 bulge with 2:02 left in the period.
"For the most part, we did what we wanted to do," Lakers coach Kurt Rambis said. "We forced him (Iverson) to take a lot of outside shots. Unfortunately for us, he made a lot of them."
"Coach Brown noticed that we didn't defend the pick-and-roll very well, so he let Allen run the pick-and-roll and they did a very good job of setting screens and getting him open," Bryant said.
O'Neal and Bryant combined for no baskets in the third quarter as the Lakers shot just 17 percent (3-of-18). Iverson scored 11 in the period, which ended with Philadelphia holding a 76-67 lead.
Iverson had a jumper and 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter before a 3-pointer by Rice and a dunk by Robert Horry pulled Los Angeles within 83-77 with 9:44 to go. Iverson made a pair of free throws and a technical foul shot on O'Neal. Matt Geiger hit a jumper and two free throws off O'Neal's fifth foul as the Sixers rebuilt the lead to 90-77 with 6:33 left.
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