Karl Malone broke out of his scoring slump with a season-high 41 points. (AP Photo) |
The game marked Larry Brown's return to the Sixers after missing two straight practices following a weekend dispute with the team that included heated words from Iverson. His team led by as many as 16 but faltered down the stretch.
Iverson scored a season-high 45 points, but his desperation three-pointer with 3.1 seconds left fell short.
Manning hit two foul shots to tie the game at 89, then hit a jumper to make it 91-89 with 19.1 seconds left.
"We are putting too much pressure on one guy," Brown said. "It was almost like a schoolyard game. He made some unbelievable shots, but it makes it too easy to guard other people. We have to execute better and get other guys involved.
"We can't win if one guy is scoring all the points. They defer to him, and he did his best to try to win the game."
Iverson drove the lane for a tying basket, but passed to Toni Kukoc, who was open for a three-pointer from the baseline. Donyell Marshall blocked Kukoc's shot and Iverson got the loose ball before missing a long three-point attempt. Kukoc got the rebound and tried to step back for another three-point attempt as time ran out.
"I don't fault Toni for trying a three-pointer," Iverson said. "I like the fact he was aggressive enough to try to put them away in our house."
The Sixers didn't make a field goal in the fourth quarter until Iverson scored on a driving layup to tie it at 78 with 5:36 left. Utah snapped a two-game losing streak and won despite the first-quarter ejection of coach Jerry Sloan.
Sloan held a longer practice than the regular morning shootaround Wednesday even though Utah played at Toronto the night before.
"It was spirited," said assistant coach Phil Johnson, who took over for Sloan. "It was not a lot of yelling. We went back to the basics."
Philadelphia, the last NBA team to lose a home game, has now lost three straight at the First Union Center.
Malone shot 13-of-18 from the field and 15-of-20 from the foul line. He scored just 12 points and was held scoreless in the second half of a 103-95 loss at Toronto on Tuesday.
"We kept our composure down the stretch and didn't beat ourselves," Malone said. "We made them play our game, got them in foul trouble and a lot of guys stepped up."
Manning was the only other Jazz player to score in double figures.
"Those are the shots I have to make because I am not blessed with the great ability of these other guys," Manning said about his game-winning jumper.
Theo Ratliff had 13 points and Tyrone Hill had nine points and 12 rebounds for the Sixers. Iverson scored 26 of his points in the first half, was 15-of-34 from the field and 15-of-18 at the foul line.
The turmoil for the Sixers began when Brown assailed the team for its performance in an 18-point loss to Dallas last Friday. Iverson told the coach in a meeting the next morning that he was treating the players like they were losers and not the team with the best record in the league (the Sixers are 18-7).
The two have had a contentious relationship since Brown's arrival in Philadelphia four years ago, but both downplayed the latest incident. Before the game, Brown said he was mainly unhappy with himself, and he praised Iverson for his unselfish play this season.
"It's perfect in a sense that Coach was back there and coached us," Iverson said. "We put all that behind us when he came back. It would've been perfect if we found a way to win."
Iverson looked like his old self against Utah, taking shots from all over the floor and making several difficult ones with defenders draped all over him.
Utah took its first lead of the game, 75-74, on a jumper by Malone with 6:32 left.
Philadelphia opened a 16-point lead in the first half, but the Jazz cut it to 36-32 with a 12-0 run. A 7-2 run gave the Sixers a 47-38 halftime lead.
Notes: Sloan was ejected with 2:16 left in the first quarter after receiving two technicals for arguing a foul by Jacque Vaughn on Iverson. ... The Sixers hit their first 16 foul shots before Kukoc missed with a minute left in the first half. ... Philadelphia did not make a jump shot in the fourth quarter. ... Sixers center Matt Geiger played 12 minutes despite having right quadriceps tendinitis. He scored six points and was booed all night.