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Airing it out Jordan nets 30 as Wizards get best of Iverson, SixersPosted: Wednesday November 28, 2001 11:04 PMUpdated: Thursday November 29, 2001 8:13 AM
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- This was what Michael Jordan expected from his teammates. A night after saying his team "stinks," Jordan scored 30 points and Richard Hamilton added 28, leading the Washington Wizards to a 94-87 victory against the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night. Allen Iverson scored 40 points and Derrick Coleman added 15 for the Sixers. The defending Eastern Conference champions have lost two in a row after winning seven in a row. Washington won for just the second time in its last 10 games. "I think they felt the need to come out and play hard," Jordan said. "We found a way to play solid basketball and guys made shots. "It's important to come out this way every night. It doesn't matter if it's Cleveland or Philadelphia. The effort should be there every night. That's what was disappointing about Cleveland is we didn't have this type of effort. This is something we have to continue to build on." Following Tuesday night's 94-75 loss at Cleveland, Jordan ripped his teammates for their lack of urgency and lackluster play on defense.
"I don't see anyone covering my back as everyone probably expected me to cover theirs," Jordan said. The Wizards couldn't stop Iverson, especially in the first half when he scored 27 points. But they shut down the rest of the Sixers, and Jordan scored Washington's last 14 points in the second quarter as the Wizards trailed 50-47 at halftime. A 9-0 run early in the third gave Washington its first lead since the opening minutes. Hamilton had six points during the spurt, including a 12-footer that made it 60-58. "With him, you just try to absorb as much information as possible," Hamilton said of Jordan. The Sixers went more than four minutes without a point in the fourth and the Wizards opened an 87-76 lead with 4:13 left, capped by consecutive jumpers from Jordan and Hamilton. A free throw by Jordan made it 88-76 with 2:58 left. Philadelphia didn't get closer than five points the rest of the game. "We are playing like a bunch of strangers on both ends," Sixers coach Larry Brown said. "When we got behind, we acted like we panicked." Jordan came in shooting just 40.2 percent -- a career-low. He went 11-of-27 from the floor, 8-of-10 on free throws and had seven assists and six rebounds. "Some of those moves are unguardable," Harpring said of Jordan. "I played him as hard as I could. I hope he's over there tired. I sure am." Iverson scored 17 points in the first quarter, including 12 in a row at one point. All of the points except two free throws came on jumpers, including three 3-pointers. Iverson entered the game shooting just 32.1 percent and had missed 30 of 35 3-pointers. He finished 15-of-31, including 3-of-9 from beyond the arc. "It's disappointing," Iverson said. "This is one of the teams we are supposed to beat. We had them where we wanted and just let it go." Notes: Iverson didn't play in Philadelphia's 90-76 loss at Washington on Nov. 3. ... The Sixers were given a salary-cap exception worth just over $4 million for Matt Geiger's career-ending injury. ... Lue, who defended Iverson well in the NBA Finals last year, was booed loudly. Lue was activated from the injured list earlier in the day. He fouled out late in the fourth. ... Sixers forward Corie Blount missed his second consecutive game with a right ankle sprain. ... Iverson's second 3-pointer was his 477th and made him Philadelphia's all-time leader in 3s, passing Hersey Hawkins. ... Iverson got a technical foul in the fourth.
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