Top > Sport > 2006 > February > 2006-02-07

AI Staying Put

The rumors as if Allen Iverson is heading on his way out of Philly are just as ridiculous as they are unfounded. What Gm is his right mind will trade the second leading scorer in the league and one of the most ferocious competitors to have ever played the game? Don?t forget the fact that Iverson is a huge attraction, filling seats wherever he goes.

One wonders whether Iverson can put it all behind him and try to take the Sixers at 23-23 to one game above 0.500. Yesterday Iverson came back from injury to lead the Sixers to a 100-95 victory over the Cavs. For one night at least the best player on the floor was still Iverson. Not that others did not step up for both teams. Chris Webber also came up big for the Sixers with 26 points (including a crucial jumper in the last 30 seconds) and both James (31 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas (26 and 11 RBs) had strong games for the losing home team.

It was Iverson, not James, who dominated this particular game and it was more than his 34 points or 9 assists. Iverson looked young and fresher than he has looked in a long time and also played intense defense. More importantly, one saw flashes of the potential the Sixers have when both Webber and Iverson are in tune with each other and this night they were.