New Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Cooper was victorious in his first game, defeating the 76ers by a final score of 97-92.  Denver outscored Philadelphia 30-18 in the 4th quarter.

Carmelo Anthony returned to action and scored 24 points for the Nuggets.  Allen Iverson led all scorers with 29 points.

Marcus Camby left the game in the 1st quarter and did not return, due to injury.  He had scored 8 points in that 9 minutes of play.

Cooper was named interim head coach of the Nuggets after Jeff Bzdelik was fired on Tuesday, following a disappointing loss at Golden State.

The NBA?s two best records both added a defeat to the win/loss column last night.  

Behind Allen Iverson?s 34 points (13 in the fourth quarter), the Sixers squeaked past the Seattle Supersonics 114-107 in the Key Arena.  With the loss, the division leading Sonics fell to 20-6 on the season.

Meanwhile, the San Antonio Spurs ended the Phoenix Suns? 11-game winning streak with an impressive 115-94 victory putting the Suns at 24-4 on the season.

"They're a championship-caliber team," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said of the Spurs, "and we're climbing up the ladder. We know that. We're not disheartened by being 24-4 and coming back and understanding what we need to do."

A recent rumor trading Antoine Walker to a Philadelphia team that ?desperately? wants him has been shot down by Sixer?s coach Jim O?Brien.  

My response to that would be, it's an overdone statement," Jim O'Brien said. "Now, I coached [Walker] in the past [with the Celtics]. I like Antoine Walker. But are we doing anything to get Antoine Walker? Not to my knowledge. There's nothing there. There really isn't. We've had no discussions about that, that I'm aware of."

The Philadelphia 76ers? Allen Iverson and the Phoenix Suns? Steve Nash today were named the Eastern Conference and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, December 20 through Sunday, December 26.

Iverson led the Sixers to a 1-1 week, averaging league-highs in points (45.5) and steals (4.0), while tallying 5.5 assists per game in contests against Utah and Indiana. Iverson shot 30-of-54 (55.6%) and 6-of-12 (50.0%) from three-point range this week, up considerably from season averages of 42% shooting and 29.1% three-point shooting. He recorded his second 50-point game of the season on December 20, scoring 51 versus the Jazz.

Nash led the Suns to a perfect 3-0 week, extending their best start in franchise history and maintaining the best record in the NBA at 24-3. He averaged 16.7 points on .545 shooting and a league-high 12.3 assists per game in wins over Denver, Memphis and Toronto. In the Suns 106-94 win over the Raptors on December 26, Nash set an NBA record for most consecutive winning games with double figure assists with 11, surpassing Magic Johnson?s record of 10 during the 1986-87 season.

Sources say that the Hawks are making Antoine Walker available and a host of Eastern Conference teams are interested, including the Sixers, Celtics and Pacers.

Sixers coach Jim O'Brien coached Walker when both parties were in Boston.

As strange as it might sound, Boston is a viable option for Walker.  Walker was upset when he was traded, but would welcome a return to Boston. "Antoine would be on a bus tonight. He'd walk here," said the source. "Boston has a chance to make the playoffs. Atlanta (5-20) has virtually none."

The Pacers are also interested, as they will play the remainder of the season without Ron Artest

Going into Wednesday night's game against Indiana, Allen Iverson had scored 50+ points for two consecutive games.  That streak ended at Conseco Fieldhouse, as he scored 40 points in a 102-90 victory over the Pacers

"I'm glad it didn't take that (scoring 50) to win," said Iverson, whose three-game total of 145 points is a career high. "I felt good, and I hope it would have been there if we had needed it. But a lot of guys did things to help us win, especially Kevin Ollie. I think he won the game for us tonight."

Glenn Robinson was at Philadelphia's practice on Tuesday, after many believed he would not play again this season.

Robinson, who has been away from the team while tending to a family matter, made an impression on coach Jim O'Brien.

"A couple of weeks ago, my conversation with Glenn was that he was having trouble walking on a treadmill because of his ankles," O'Brien told the Philadelphia Inquirer after practice. "If he comes out and practices like today, I would say my assessment would be different based on what I saw than the information I had at hand two weeks ago."

Although their chances are slim, the New Jersey Nets are interested in landing Samuel Dalembert, the big man from Philadelphia.  

League sources say the Nets have spoken with Philadelphia, however the 76ers are not looking to move Mr. Dalembert just yet.  To make matters worse for the Nets, if Philadelphia does decide to move their big man, they would likely want another big man to replace the outgoing Dalembert.  After the recent Toronto trade for Vince Carter, size is one luxury the Nets are without.

Allen Iverson scored 51 points on Monday night, the second consecutive game he has scored more than 50 points.  It wasn't enough for the Sixers to overtake the Jazz, as they lost 103-101.

"I don't care anything about that," Iverson said"  Like you said, we had control, regardless if it was me scoring or anybody else.  We had a chance to win the game.  This one feels bad, because we had such a great effort trying to get back into the game.  Then once we got back into it and got a lead, we just couldn't keep the lead.  You've got to take your hat off to those guys.  They kept fighting in a hostile environment, and they got it done.  We just couldn't.

"I had a hot hand, and Coach (O'Brien) called my number.  That's with anybody though," Iverson said.  "I think that goes all the way around the league.  If you have a guy on your team that's going well, even though he's not your primary objective on offense, if the guy's going well you milk it.  You just keep running the same play over and over, or run plays for that guy until they stop it.  Obviously tonight they couldn't stop it the way they wanted to, so Coach called my number.  I knew guys were going to sag on me, and they were going to try to help once I got into a rhythm.  That opened up a lot of things for Kyle Korver.  People just worried about where I was on the court, and he was able to get shots."

A day after the Sixers blew a huge 4th quarter lead at home against the Knicks, they recovered in tremendous style.

Allen Iverson scored a season-high 54 points, including his 15,000th career point, and the Sixers won for the fourth time in five games, earning a 116-97 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night.

"Honestly, and I can't be any truer than this, all I wanted was for the Milwaukee Bucks to be down one point once there were all zeroes on the board," he said.

"We're starting to get some things, and four out of five (games won) is a good indicator," O'Brien said.