Shaq Takes Scoring Lead as Iverson, 76ers Struggle

Sunday night’s loss to the New Jersey Nets at East Rutherford, N.J. was twice as painful as most for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Not only did the 76ers drop an 86-79 decision to the Nets to fall into a tie for seventh place with Cleveland in the Eastern Conference standings, but Allen Iverson scored only six points, relinquishing the NBA scoring lead to Shaquille O’Neal.

It was only the 11th time in 194 career games that Iverson was held under double figures. His scoring average dropped from 26.6 to 26.1, while O’Neal is averaging 26.5.

“I can’t make any excuses,” Iverson said. “I just had a bad game. It was just a case of me missing shots that I normally make. I just couldn’t get it going.”

The only time Iverson had fewer points this season was on April 2, when he was limited to five by the Cavaliers, which tied his career low.

Utah 97, Minnesota 76--The Jazz spoiled Kevin Garnett’s return to the Timberwolves’ lineup, jumping out to an early 19-8 lead at Minneapolis en route to their 11th consecutive victory. John Stockton scored six points in the game’s first eight minutes.

Miami 92, Indiana 88--Clarence Weatherspoon scored all seven of his points during a pivotal fourth-quarter and Alonzo Mourning, taking advantage of Rik Smits’ absence because of a head cold, had 24 points, 18 rebounds and three blocked shots as the Heat won at Miami.

San Antonio 86, Houston 83--Mario Elie made a wide-open three-point basket with one-tenth of a second left at San Antonio to defeat the team he won two world championships with this decade.

Phoenix 99, Seattle 93--Tom Gugliotta had 27 points and 12 rebounds as the Suns swept the SuperSonics for the first time in team history and tightened their grip on the No. 7 spot in the Western Conference with a victory at Phoenix.

Magic 88, Pistons 81--Penny Hardaway scored 17 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter and the Magic completed a sweep of the four-game season series with the Pistons by winning at Orlando, Fla.

Golden State 90, Vancouver 85--Donyell Marshall scored 24 points as the Warriors won at Vancouver, Canada, to bounce back from Friday’s loss to the Clippers and win for the third time in four games.

Boston 101, Washington 98--Rookie Paul Pierce tied his season-high with 26 points as the Celtics, despite losing Antoine Walker because of a sprained ankle 5 1/2 minutes into the game, defeated the Wizards at Washington.

Chicago 79, Milwaukee 77--Mark Bryant sank a 10-foot jumper with 2.3 seconds left and the Bulls ended a seven-game losing streak, their longest in 13 years, by defeating the Bucks at Chicago.

Notes

While in Phoenix for a ceremony honoring former teammate Tom Chambers, Kevin Johnson said that he has had plenty of opportunities but never found the ideal situation that would have lured him back to the NBA.

“I don’t think I’m going to play, but I’m not going to rule it out until after the summer,” Johnson said. “I’ll evaluate it in the summer and then make a final determination.”

Johnson played all 11 of his NBA seasons with the Suns. He is the team’s career assists leader and No. 3 scorer, but he and the franchise parted ways after last season when the Suns decided to go with Jason Kidd as the team’s undisputed floor leader.