Allen Iverson has played in every game this season, and he kept his streak intact last night, starting the 76ers' game against the Portland Trail Blazers despite a sprained right ankle. He finished with 28 points.

Iverson, the NBA's leading scorer, suffered the injury in the third quarter of Tuesday night's victory over Denver when he came down awkwardly after a three-point shot.
Athletic trainer Kevin Johnson retaped Iverson's ankle during a time-out and Iverson wound up playing 13 of the game's final 18 minutes.

Coach Maurice Cheeks said before last night's game that he was going to keep a watchful eye on Iverson to make sure the ankle is not bothering him.

"I don't want to jeopardize him getting hurt later on for him to play tonight," Cheeks said. "We've got a lot more games on this trip."

Iverson has played in each of his team's 29 games. He last played in all 82 regular-season games during the 2002-03 season.

Allen Iverson got the final shot in his shootout with Carmelo Anthony.

Iverson scored 36 points, including the game-winning basket, and the Philadelphia 76ers overcame Anthony's career-high 45 to beat the Denver Nuggets 108-106 on Tuesday night.

Chris Webber added 32 points and 15 rebounds, none bigger than the one in the final minute that set up Iverson's winning shot.

After Webber grabbed Earl Watson's miss from long range, the Sixers called a timeout with 21 seconds left. Iverson took the inbounds pass and stalled at midcourt until driving on Andre Miller, then pulling up and sinking the basket from the top of the key with 4.2 seconds remaining.

"I was surprised that they just let me wind the clock down and take a shot," Iverson said. "I told my teammates that I was going to wind it down. ... I was hoping if I did miss, the ball would bounce and the time would run out."

No matter how many shots he took, Allen Iverson couldn't beat the Atlanta Hawks by himself.

Iverson scored 53 points, the fifth-highest total of his career, but Joe Johnson had 24 to lead the Hawks over the Philadelphia 76ers 111-108 on Friday night.

"I'm as disappointed as everybody else on my team," Iverson said. "We wanted to go into the holidays with a win. We'll have to get this one out of our system and come back to work."

Zaza Pachulia added a career-high 23 points, including the go-ahead free throws, and Al Harrington scored 22 for Atlanta, which won its fourth straight at home and its fifth in the last seven games overall.

"We shared the ball," Pachulia said. "We had 29 assists, and that's great. We shot pretty good also, 54 percent. It's tough to beat a team like that."

NBA leading scorer Allen Iverson did not travel with the Philadelphia 76ers to Atlanta on Thursday because of family reasons, but is expected to play against the Hawks on Friday night.

Iverson, who averages a league-best 33.5 points, did not practice on Thursday.

The Atlantic Division-leading Sixers (14-12) begin a 15-day, seven-game road trip in Atlanta.

NBA leading scorer Allen Iverson sprained his left thumb in the first half of Philadelphia's game against Miami on Friday night.

Iverson appeared to hurt the thumb when he was fouled on a driving layup at the end of the first quarter. After Iverson was fouled by Jason Kapono, he grabbed his hand and paced around the court before finally going to the line. He missed the free throw.

Iverson did leave briefly to have X-rays, which showed no break. Iverson, averaging 34 points, returned in the second quarter.

John Salmons was off to the best start of his three-plus NBA seasons. More aggressive. More consistent. Scoring in double figures in 10 of the 76ers' first 13 games. He said in training camp that this would be a breakout year, and to that point, it was.

Since then, he has had three straight 1-for-5 games, a 1-for-10 against Charlotte and a scoreless 16 minutes against New Jersey.

Was the weight of more responsibility in the regular rotation catching up to him? Was he even the slightest bit weary?

"I just think it's part of being a pro, part of playing on a consistent basis," Salmons said last night after scoring 11 points in 12 minutes, 22 seconds of a 106-101 victory over Atlanta, helping the Sixers stretch their winning steak to four games.

"It's a matter of having your ups and downs, part of being out there on a consistent basis. Allen [Iverson] can score 30 a game, but there aren't too many people in the league who are up all season.

"I feel [fresh]; I don't feel like my body is tired. I want to play every game. I want to play 48 minutes a game."

One theory is that, as much as Iverson and Chris Webber have figured out how to play together (they combined for 68 points against the Hawks), they haven't as clearly figured out how to consistently involve the other three players on the court with them. At the same time, the others haven't necessarily figured out their responsibilities.

Salmons didn't question the premise; nor did he agree with it. But here's what he did say: "I know there's more going on than meets the eye." He did not elaborate.

Another scoring barrage by Allen Iverson resulted in the All-Star guard being named the NBA's Eastern Conference Player of the Week.

Iverson received the honor Monday after averaging 36 points, 8.0 assists and 2.3 steals in leading the 76ers to two wins in three games. Iverson scored over 40 points in back-to-back victories, increasing his total to six 40-point games this season.

After scoring 23 points in a loss to Milwaukee on Wednesday, Iverson scored 43 in Friday's 119-115 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats. The following night in New Jersey, Iverson scored 42 points and added 12 assists in a 107-95 triumph over the Nets.

Forward Elton Brand of the Los Angeles Clippers received Western Conference honors for the second time this season after averaging 31 points, 11.5 rebounds, 4.0 blocks and 3.8 assists in four games. Brand recorded a season-high 37 points and 12 rebounds in a 99-89 win over Miami on Monday.

Brand had a double-double in all four games during the week, leading the surprising Clippers to three victories.

Orlando Magic guard Steve Francis is back on the court tonight, but on Friday, he was in a Washington, D.C., court giving a deposition.

Three men filed a civil suit against him after claiming they were injured in an alleged June nightclub incident, and Francis' agent, Jeff Fried, told the Sentinel that Francis is being sued for $10 million.

 Fried said Francis was not involved in the incident and alleged that the civil suit is being lodged only because he's a professional athlete. No criminal charges were filed.

Francis missed practice Friday in Orlando but was expected to fly back home late Friday and play tonight against the Denver Nuggets.

Fried said the case will not be tried until after the season.

"Steve came here today because we have an absolute policy that we're not succumbing to any shake-downs -- and that's what this is," Fried said by cell phone. "If you have $120, you can file a lawsuit against an Allen Iverson or a Steve Francis. . . . This is the other side of fame if you're A.I. or Steve."

Iverson is being sued for $20 million by four men in a civil case stemming from a July 20 bar brawl.

Matt Barnes is coming back to Philadelphia.  The Sixers signed the athletic small forward to a contract today to bolster their front-court depth.

Barnes was acquired with Chris Webber and Michael Bradley in last season's blockbuster trade.  But Barnes never saw any action with the Sixers.

Barnes began the season in New York and averaged 4.3 points and 4.0 rebounds prior to being waived on December 3.  He is 6-7 and will back up and complement the outside game of Kyle Korver.

Philadelphia 76ers President Billy King announced today that the team, which has lost four in a row, has waived forwards Deng Gai and James Thomas.

Gai, a 6-foot, 9-inch rookie forward from Fairfield University, was signed by the Sixers as a free agent on Aug. 5, and only appeared in two games this season playing a total of 5 minutes.

Signed as a free agent on Oct. 3, Thomas played in 15 games this season averaging 1.5 points and 2.1 rebounds in 8.3 minutes per game. A 6-foot, 8-inch forward from the University of Texas, Thomas scored a career-high eight points on Nov. 21 vs. New Orleans/Oklahoma City.