MEXICO CITY (AP) _ With a crowd hungry for basketball chanting his name, Allen Iverson led the Philadelphia 76ers to a 84-80 exhibition victory over the Washington Wizards Saturday night.

A crowd of 17,824 at the Palacio do los Deportes chanted ``Iverson! Iverson!'' as the 76ers' star had 24 points, six rebounds and four assists in only 24 minutes on the court.

The 76ers dominated most of the game, taking a 47-38 lead at halftime. But the Wizards rallied, and with 2:31 left in the game, they were down only 78-76.

Reserve guard Chris Whitney took a 3-point shot that would have put Washington ahead, but it went off the rim and in the final minutes the 76ers widened their lead.

The only other 76er to score in double figures was Tyrone Hill, who had 10. Philadelphia's top draft pick, Speedy Claxton, played 21 minutes, scoring one point and fouling out of the game.

Felipe Lopez, obtained with three other players in the deal that sent Isaac Austin to Vancouver, scored 17 points in 25 minutes for Washington before fouling out.

Whitney added 15 points for the Wizards, while Juwan Howard, Popeye Jones and Rod Strickland scored eight apiece. The Wizards got Jones and a second-round draft pick from Denver for swingman Tracy Murray.

The exhibition game is one in a series being played outside the United States. Lopez, who is from the Dominican Republic, said after the game that the NBA needs such trips.

``I think it's very important that the NBA have these games in Mexico, and hopefully they'll extend it to all of Latin America,'' he said. ``In Latin America there are a lot of good basketball players.''

The Sixers were without coach Larry Brown, who did not make the trip to Mexico City so he could spend time with his family. Brown was an assistant coach with the U.S. Olympic basketball team.