A young, exciting backcourt star rose to the forefront last night at Madison Square Garden. And when Allen Iverson's season-high 35-point performance had finished off the Knicks, New York's three-game winning streak was finished as well.
With Larry Johnson missing two potential game-tying 3-pointers during the final 20 seconds, the Philadelphia 76ers edged the Knicks, 101-97, in a game in which Iverson imposed his will.
Both Charlie Ward and Scott Brooks fouled out trying to contain Iverson -- a job that nobody on the Knicks could handle.
Iverson shot 10 for 19 from the field, and 5 for 9 from 3-point range -- making jumpers, slicing to the basket and keeping constant pressure on a Knick defense that became passive as Iverson became more aggressive. Only his free-throw shooting was off: if he had shot better than 10 of 17 from the line, he might have scored 40 points.
After watching this game, do not be surprised if Chris Childs (non-displaced fractured right fibula) is inclined to rush himself back into the Knicks' lineup. Childs begins full-scale workouts Wednesday, and he could be activated later this week. The Knicks could have used Childs last night, but it might not have mattered who defended the Sixers' talented rookie. Iverson was that good. And playing in New York for the first time as a professional did not unnerve Iverson. It was Iverson who unnerved the Knicks.
Asked if anyone could have covered him, Iverson said: ''I don't think so. When my jumper is on, I can pretty much do whatever I want. But when the jumper is on, it is hard to stop anybody in this league.''
Still, the Knicks had a chance to force overtime if Johnson could have converted one of his last two 3-point attempts.
An Iverson free throw with 38 seconds to play gave Philadelphia a 98-95 lead. After a timeout, the Knicks went to Patrick Ewing (26 points, 15 rebounds), but he missed a 12-foot jumper.
Charles Oakley grabbed the rebound, and the ball swung over to Johnson, who was wide open from about 25 feet on the left side of the key. Johnson missed.
Oakley rebounded. This time, Johnson found himself open on the right side of the court from 25 feet with about 10 seconds left. He missed again.
''They both felt pretty good,'' said Johnson, who scored a season-high 28 points, but saw the loss ruin his best individual night as a Knick. ''Those shots were open, but we also could have gone for the quick 2 instead of chucking up 3-pointers. If I had another chance, I probably would have moved it inside and looked for the quick 2.''
Iverson chased down the rebound after Johnson's second missed 3-pointer, and Johnson fouled Iverson with 5.4 seconds to play. Iverson made 1 of 2 foul shots, Ewing added a meaningless dunk and Jerry Stackhouse ended the scoring with two foul shots.
When Iverson was not scoring, he was setting up teammates, most notably Stackhouse (28 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds). Iverson and Stackhouse give the Sixers a one-two backcourt punch of the future that looks very good in the present. It was the third consecutive victory for the Sixers (3-3), who also got 16 points from Derrick Coleman and 12 rebounds from Scott Williams. The Knicks never controlled the game, and the Sixers seized the opportunity to steal a road a victory.
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