scored 27 points and hit the winner with 8.7 seconds left to lead the
Detroit Pistons to a 90-86 win over Philadelphia on Wednesday night,
the 76ers’ 11th straight loss.
Allen Iverson scored 11 points in his second game with the Sixers. He hit the tying jumper with 1:06 left that made it 86-all.
Stuckey had the ball stripped by
Andre Iguodala, but he grabbed the loose ball and tossed it in for the
go-ahead basket with 1 second left on the shot clock.
Iguodala went for the win, but his 3-point attempt was no good. He scored 18 points.
Iverson is 0-5 this season — three
losses with Memphis; two with the 76ers. Iverson missed seven of 10
shots from the floor and had three assists.
The Pistons won without their top
three stars. Guard Ben Gordon sat out with a sprained left ankle, and
they had been playing without Richard Hamilton (ankle) and Tayshaun
Prince (back).
Stuckey and Jonas Jerebko were
sensational in the fourth quarter and rallied against a struggling
Sixers team looking for answers.
Jerebko made all three baskets in the
fourth quarter — and all three were clutch. He sank Detroit’s first 3
of the game after seven misses that pulled the Pistons within one;
another jumper that kept the deficit at one; and a 15-footer that gave
them an 84-82 lead.
Iverson, who played 33 minutes as he
tries to work his way into game shape, tied it for his first big shot
in his second stint with the Sixers.
The Sixers blew a prime shot at
going ahead when they missed two easy looks at the basket, the second
one a tip by Samuel Dalembert that fell short.
That set the scene for Stuckey to
come through. Stuckey’s emergence was a big reason why the Pistons felt
they could trade Chauncey Billups to Denver for Iverson last season.
Stuckey went up for the shot, but
Iguodala was in his face to knock the ball free. Stuckey pounced on the
loose ball and tossed up a little fade that went through for the
winner.
Iverson deferred to Iguodala on the final shot. It was no good and the Sixers slumped home losers again.
The Sixers were counting on
Iverson’s marquee name to serve as a box office. They drew 20,000-plus
in his homecoming Monday night, but attendance plummeted to 12,136
against the Pistons. That’s just a tick more than the 11,965 they
averaged in their first eight home games.
Iverson blocked the first shot of
the game, stripped Ben Wallace of the ball at the top of the key that
led to a Sixers basket, and intercepted a pass as he was falling out of
bounds during a frantic first quarter.
He’s still looking to get his legs under him after long stretches of inactivity as a non-factor until the fourth.
Iverson shed no tears nor did he
exchange emotional hugs in his first game against the Pistons. He
complained last season once the Pistons made him a reserve, tried to
dominate the ball when he did play, and eventually had his season cut
short because of a back injury.
He did not play in the postseason and the Pistons let his $20-plus million contract expire.
Jerebko finished with 17 points, Jason Maxiell had 12 and Wallace grabbed 12 rebounds.
Dalembert had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Sixers and Elton Brand scored 17 points.
Notes
The Pistons beat the Sixers
for the fourth straight time. … The Sixers were without G Jrue
Holiday (shoulder). … Keeping the Pistons cold beyond the arc didn’t
help: the Sixers had allowed 10-plus 3-pointers in five of the last six
games.