| |
 Lesson No. 1 Strickland scores 19 to lift Wizards over Philadelphia
Posted: Sunday April 11, 1999 04:45 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The first three quarters belonged to Allen Iverson. The fourth was the property of Rod Strickland. And the victory goes to Jim Brovelli, his first as an NBA head coach, after the Washington Wizards broke a five-game losing streak and rallied from a 13-point third-quarter deficit Sunday to beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 105-98. "I'm happy for the guys in the locker room, especially with all they have been through this past week," said Brovelli, who had been 0-3 after being named interim coach following Bernie Bickerstaff's dismissal last week. "They continued to fight and scrap and it paid off." Strickland led the way, scoring 10 of his 19 points in the final period and helping to hold Iverson without a point in the fourth until the game's final minute. Rookie Randell Jackson added 11 points in 16 minutes, all in the second half, and Mitch Richmond scored 24. Iverson had 29 points after three quarters as the 76ers led by 11, but the NBA's leading scorer looked like a rookie again as he missed his next four shots and committed three fourth-quarter turnovers. The Wizards rallied to outscore the 76ers 34-16 over the final 12 minutes. "He got out to a good start," Richmond said. "It was great that we kind of smothered him at the end." Iverson finished with 32 points, 10 rebounds and five assists as the 76ers had their three-game winning streak snapped. "We had the game. We gave it to them," Iverson said. "I was getting good shots. I was just missing. And I took some bad shots with a hand in my face when I could have got better looks at the basket." Iverson's flashy layup turned into a 3-point play to cap 9-0 run that gave the 76ers the lead at 29-20. He later stole the ball from Strickland while Strickland was in mid-air attempting a jump shot and made an alley-oop pass to Larry Hughes that ended the half with an exclamation point. But Iverson started taking jumpers in the fourth, and he missed badly. He had a layup rejected by Jackson after the lead was cut to two, then had the ball batted away by Strickland about a minute later. Strickland then backed in on Iverson on the baseline for a short basket that tied the score at 87-87. With 3:26 to go, Strickland's 3-point play after a two-handed scoop layup put the Wizards ahead for good at 92-91. Strickland's 3-pointer with 2:13 to play made it 97-91. "Even though they were down, they were trying,' Philadelphia coach Larry Brown said. 'Rod made it hard on Allen. [Allen] had to make some great plays just to score." Notes: Both teams lost a starting forward in the third quarter. George Lynch of the 76ers sprained his right knee, and Juwan Howard sprained his left ankle. Both will be re-evaluated Monday. ... Wizards center Ben Wallace (10 points, eight rebounds, four blocks) returned after missing two games with a sore right knee. ... Philadelphia forward Tyrone Hill (16 points, six rebounds) was back after missing three games with a fractured toe. ... The 76ers gave up 100 points in regulation for the first time this season. ... The Wizards marked the 'one millionth fan' to attend a Wizards game at the MCI Center. The team hit the mark -- which counts tickets sold and given away, not actual attendance -- in its 54th game at the downtown arena, which opened in December 1997. ... While the victory was Brovelli's first official win, he did lead the Wizards to a 1-1 record earlier this season when Bickerstaff had the flu.
| |||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 1999 CNN/SI. A Time Warner Company. Terms under which this service is provided to you.
| |||||||||||||||||
