RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Allen Iverson has led the Philadelphia 76ers
to a better start than Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Erving or Charles
Barkley ever did.
|  | | Eric Snow's 14 points Friday night helped the 76ers remain the league's hottest team. |
Iverson scored 19 points and added five assists as the 76ers
beat the Miami Heat 94-73 on Friday night to improve to 9-0 for the
first time in franchise history.
"You don't think about this in your wildest dreams," Iverson
said. "To come in a league so tough like this and be 9-0, and with
everything that went on with me in the summer, that makes it that
much sweeter, that much better."
Eric Snow had 14 points and Tyrone Hill added 12 for the Sixers,
who have won nine straight for the first time since January 1990.
Brian Grant scored 16 points -- all in the first half -- and had
11 rebounds, and Tim Hardaway added 14 for the Heat.
Miami played without Eddie Jones, who missed his second straight
game with a strained calf. Hardaway left the game in the third
quarter with tendinitis in his right knee and didn't return.
"I'm a pessimist, I don't know what's going on," said Aaron
McKie, who scored 11 points and had six assists. "The chemistry is
there, that's for sure. We just have to find a way to come out with
more intensity early."
Miami started strong and opened an eight-point lead in the first
quarter. But the Heat scored 26 points the entire second half.
The Sixers used an 18-0 run to erase a four-point deficit in the
third quarter. Theo Ratliff gave Philadelphia its first lead since
the opening minutes with a pair of free throws, then Iverson took
over.
He threw an alley-oop to George Lynch on a fast break, found
Hill for an easy basket on another fast break and hit a long jumper
to make it 60-52. Two free throws by Snow, a put-back by Hill and a
jumper by Snow gave the Sixers a 66-52 lead with 3:23 left in the
third.
Miami missed 12 straight shots, went 6:52 without a point and
trailed by double digits the rest of the way. The Sixers led by as
many as 21 in the fourth quarter.
"When it came push to shove, we allowed them to shove a lot and
play defense in a way that took us out of everything," Miami coach
Pat Riley said.
It was the second straight game in which the Sixers had an 18-0
run in the third quarter. They did it in a 107-98 victory over
Cleveland on Wednesday.
"We can't play much better than that," Sixers coach Larry
Brown said about the third quarter. "We just got it going, stepped
up defensively, started trapping a little, got some easy baskets
and got them out of sync a little."
The Sixers won championships with Chamberlain and Erving, and
went to the playoffs three straight years with Barkley. None of
those superstars got the Sixers to 9-0, however.
"To think about all the great players this franchise has had
makes this special," Snow said. "But we've got a long way to
go."
The Sixers have beaten the Heat twice during this streak,
including an 84-82 victory at Miami on Nov. 4.
"They're just a solid team," Riley said. "Their record is not
a coincidence."
Game notes
Philadelphia plays nine of its next 11 games on the road.
... Heat center Duane Causwell entered the game averaging 4.6
points, then scored the first five points for Miami. ... The 9-0
start is the best in Brown's 18-year career as coach. ... Lynch hit
a 3-pointer from midcourt as the first quarter ended to cut Miami's
lead to 24-23.
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NBA Scoreboard
Miami Clubhouse
Philadelphia Clubhouse
RECAPS
Golden State 92
Indiana 90
Philadelphia 94
Miami 73
Boston 106
Atlanta 99
Detroit 96
Charlotte 89
Minnesota 99
San Antonio 94
Milwaukee 89
Cleveland 76
New York 90
Phoenix 85
Dallas 99
Seattle 95
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