Allen Iverson had 39 points and 12 assists, while Kyle Korver scored 19 points to lead the 76ers back into the playoffs for the first time in two years with a 122-106 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night.

``I feel like myself and my teammates, we are a playoff team,'' Iverson said. ``We believed that all year. We believed in each other. We stuck with each other in good times and bad times and we never pointed fingers at each other.''

The Sixers could still get the 6th seed if they win their final game and the Pacers lose their final game.

``We had to act like we wanted to get in,'' Iverson said. ``We had to play this game as hard as we could. I was telling my teammates `After this game, you should really be tired because you should leave everything out there.' This game had a lot on the line.''

After bruising his spinal cord almost 14 months ago, Bucks guard TJ Ford has finally been cleared to resume basketball.  

"I was excited to finally be able to touch a basketball -- with permission," Ford said.

For still has a long way to go and in six weeks he will undergo another battery of tests that will hopefully give him clearance for contact workouts.

"It was a big sigh of relief. But at the same time, I understand how much work I have to put in," Ford said.

"I didn't lose anything," he said. "I didn't lose my game."

It is going to be a while before Bucks? point guard T.J. Ford will be able to return to the lineup, however he is now allowed to begin basketball-related activities such as running, shooting and light weight work.

Ford suffered a neck injury back in November 2003 which required a cervical spine surgery.  He has not played or even worked out since his injury.

"He's on the road," said coach Terry Porter. "Before he was on the side of the road but now he's back on it. There's some good news. We don't know (for sure about his future) because of all the uncertainty. But we've got to crawl before we can walk."

The Bucks have good young frontcourt players in Zaza Pachulia and Dan Gadzuric and the front office wants to keep the pair in Milwaukee.

"I put him and Mo (Williams) in the same category," Bucks coach Terry Porter said, also referring to the team's starting point guard. "Last year they really didn't play a lot, so this is really their rookie year. They're getting consistent minutes.

"You have to be on the floor to absorb a lot, to find your niche, to find out what you can do in this league. Although you can improve in practice, until you get thrown in the fire, that's when you really learn."

Pachulia will be a free agent at the end of the season, and Bucks general manager Larry Harris has said the team would like to re-sign both starting center Dan Gadzuric and Pachulia to multiyear deals.

"I would like to stay; I really don't like to move a lot," said Pachulia, who lives in a downtown Milwaukee apartment with his mom, Marina. "But that's how they teach me here. It's all about the business.

"But I've gotten used to the city, the fans. I have a good relationship with everybody, and the organization is good."

Sasha Pavlovic left Friday's game versus the Sixers in the second quarter with a sprained right ankle.  He was available to play but did not return to the game. X-rays were negative. He is a game-time decision for tonight's game versus the Milwaukee Bucks.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas has missed the past two games with a dislocated right ring finger.  He is listed as a OUT for tonight's game versus the Milwaukee Bucks.

The New York Knicks are becoming the perfect cure to snapping losing-steaks, as the Milwaukee Bucks ended their 8-game streak by beating the Knicks by a final score of 106-102.

Michael Redd had 32 points for Milwaukee.

Tim Thomas led the the Knicks with 23 points, while Kurt Thomas had 13 points and 12 rebounds.

"Our effort just wasn't there until the last 3 minutes," said Stephon Marbury, who had 15 points.

The Knicks have now lost six straight games.

Spanish national Pau Gasol scored 20 points and Memphis snap a three-game losing streak with a 93-82 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night.

"It's hard, being out for so long and then come back, being in this point of the season where we are playing for so much, with so much on the line," said Gasol, who missed 23 games with plantar fascitis. "But I want to be out there. I want to fight for wins; I want to fight for my team. That's all that matters."

The Grizzlies, often criticized for poor defensive efforts, held the Bucks to just 32 2nd half points.

"It got better in the second half," Memphis coach Mike Fratello said of his team's defense. "Our defense in the first half was not real good, but we got a little bit better."