Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Sixers in Oakland minus Iverson

The Philadelphia 76ers will be without the services of star guard Allen Iverson tonight as the team hopes to secure its first win in five years over the Golden State Warriors in Oakland.

Iverson has left the Sixers again and is out indefinitely to spend time with his ailing daughter. The enigmatic guard will miss at least the remaining three games on Philadelphia's road trip and may not be brought back at all this season. Various sources have reported that Philadelphia is seriously considering letting Iverson walk.

The 11-time All-Star has already missed five games and the this year's mid-season classic to be with his family when the health issue surfaced earlier this month, although Iverson has not disclosed what is wrong with his four-year-old daughter, Messiah.

Sixers president Ed Stefanski says it was in the best interest of the team and Iverson to allow him time with his family to deal with a "very serious issue."

On the floor the Sixers are coming off a blowout loss to Chicago in the Windy City on Saturday. Rookie Taj Gibson was one of seven Bulls to score in double figures in that one as he tied a career-high with 20 in Chicago's 122-90 rout of Philadelphia.

Andre Iguodala had 23 points for the Sixers, who opened a four-game road trip by losing for the third time in four overall contests. They'll also take on Phoenix and the Lakers during the swing.

Thaddeus Young scored 17 to go with eight rebounds for Philadelphia, which failed to build on a 106-94 home win over San Antonio on Friday. Iverson ended with 13 points and Lou Williams 10 in defeat.

This marked the second time in less than a week the Sixers lost by a huge number. They were throttled, 105-78, at home by Miami on Tuesday.

"We didn't answer their runs," Sixers coach Eddie Jordan said.

The Warriors, meanwhile, improved to 2-1 on a six-game homestand Sunday when Stephen Curry poured in a game-best 32 points and his technical free throw with 34.6 seconds remaining proved to be the difference, as Golden State rallied to defeat the Atlanta Hawks, 108-104.

Curry also pulled down nine rebounds for the Warriors while Monta Ellis added
26 points and five rebounds.

C.J. Watson donated 15 points and six assists off the bench for Golden State,
which shot 53.6 percent from the field.

"The force was with us tonight which was great to see," Warriors head coach
Don Nelson said. "It was great to see Monta [Ellis] come back and compete. He
guarded their best player, basically, one-on-one. He got a steal for us, made
free throws, and was a big factor down the stretch. It was one of those games
where we pulled all of the right strings, made shots, and the force was with
us. We were a little lucky too, but we'll take it."

Philly last topped the Warriors in Oakland on Jan. 3, 2005.

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