Dan Dickau had a career night scoring 19 points and dishing out 16 helping the Hornets beat the Sixers.

The Sixers were playing without NBA-leading scorer Allen Iverson, who missed his second straight game with a strained left shoulder.

Philadelphia is 0-4 on the season without their star guard.

Gilbert Arenas poured in 33 and overcame a career night from Willie Green, Allen Iverson's substitute.

Green's 32 points helped keep the game close until the last half of the final period when the Washington Wizards pulled away and pulled out their fourth straight victory.

The Wizards ended with a 20-9 run, winning 117-107.

The 76ers played without Iverson, the NBA's leading scorer, who has a strained left rotator cuff.

Members of the Philadelphia Eagles were honored on Monday night at the Sixers game versus Miami, as they are now on their way to the Super Bowl, and their excellence might have just rubbed off on their basketball team.

"It was something you always want to be a part of," Allen Iverson said. "That's the same thing with me. Just being able to try to get to the Finals and win it. That's the ultimate goal."

Iverson had 45 points and 11 assists, leading the Philadelphia 76ers to a 106-98 victory over the Miami Heat on Monday night.

The NBA Wednesday imposed a $5,000 fine against Philadelphia center Marc Jackson for what the league determined was an obscenity toward a fan in the third quarter of Monday afternoon's 95-91 victory over the New Orleans Hornets, to which Jackson was far from impressed.

"Sack of crap," Jackson said when asked about the situation before last night's game against the Charlotte Bobcats.

"Because of the incident in Detroit, they want to hit people with fines without finding out what's going on. That's crazy. I won't tolerate it. I've got horses to feed."

That line, according to Daily News writer Phil Jasner, caused his teammates in the locker room to explode in laughter. Jackson, in fact, does own horses, leading reporters to ask roughly what it does take to feed them.

"That's 6 months of horse feed right there," Jackson said. "That's inappropriate. Somebody said something - it's my teammate talking to me, joking around, and I respond. And I get fined $5,000. I can understand if I was ripping people's heads off, but I was just talking to a teammate in a joking manner."

Jackson said he would appeal.

"That's ridiculous, and they know it's ridiculous," he said.

Philadelphia 76ers President and General Manager Billy King announced today that the Sixers have placed forward Brian Skinner (left knee synovitis) on the injured list and activated guard Kedrick Brown.

Brown was placed on the injured list on Nov. 12 prior to the Sixers-Pacers game with a low back strain.  Brown has seen action in two games this season, logging a total of eight minutes. Playing in his fourth NBA season, Brown has missed a total of 34 games this season - 31 games on the injured list, two games due to injury (flu-like symptoms) and one DNP-Coach's Decision.

The Miami Heat have announced that as a result of the Philadelphia Eagles? participation in the NFC Championship Game, the NBA has announced that the HEAT?s home game versus the New Orleans Hornets has been changed from Monday, January 24, at 7:30 pm to Sunday, January 23 at 6:00 pm at the AmericanAirlines Arena.

The following contest against the 76ers has also been changed from Sunday, January 23, at 6:00 pm to Monday, January 24, at 7:00 pm at Wachovia Center in Philadelphia.

Kenny Thomas had 21 points and 15 rebounds, Allen Iverson scored 29 and Philadelphia survived a disastrous fourth quarter where they blew a 25-point lead before beating the New Orleans Hornets 95-91 on Monday.

"It don't matter if we won by 30 or we won by one. It's the same result," Iverson said.

"That's been our ultimate goal, just get to first place and win the Atlantic," Iverson said. "That's it. Hopefully today we moved a step closer, but we've got a long way to go."

The NBA?s leading scorer will probably play tonight despite a sprained right ankle.  Allen Iverson, arguably one of the league?s toughest players is averaging 28.9 points a game this year.  

Philadelphia will face Portland tonight.

The NBA?s leading scorer, Allen Iverson, did not play in Friday night?s game versus the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Iverson is nursing a sprained ankle he suffered in the first quarter of Wednesday night?s game versus Utah which he finished in its entirety.

At 6 p.m. yesterday, the Philadelphia 76ers converted Josh Davis? contract from partially to fully guaranteed at $620,046.

"Honestly, I hadn't even given this a thought," said Larry Fox, Davis' agent. "I was told back in November that Josh would be there for the whole year. He signed a partial guarantee, but it was a fair deal. They worked hard to sign him. They liked him in the summer, they liked him in training camp. He was in the CBA last season because we felt he could play in the NBA. If you're the best player there, if you're a well-rounded player, you have a chance. That was why he didn't go to Europe."