• 
• 

Andre Miller had 28 points with 12 assists, Samuel Dalembert made the go-ahead layup with 32.9 seconds left and the 76ers spoiled Iverson's return to Philadelphia by beating the Denver Nuggets 115-113 Wednesday night.

 Iverson was greeted to a lengthy thundering standing ovation from the 20,674 fans at the sold-out Wachovia Center during pre-game introductions in his first visit back to the arena since being dealt to Denver in December of 2006.

 "It was emotional, it almost got to me," said the choked-up Iverson. "It made me feel good. It made me feel appreciated. It felt like the time I was here was worthwhile."

   "The Answer" finished with 32 points and eight assists, but missed the potential game-tying jumper with 7.9 seconds left. Though the loss spoiled his dream return, it didn't diminish the magnitude of the heartfelt evening for the former Sixers fan favourite.

 "I dreamed it up a certain way and it was better than that," Iverson added. "Everything was perfect but one thing, and that was not winning the game."

   With the contest leveled at 110, Miller drew a foul from Iverson while making a short jumper and converted the free throw to put the Sixers, ahead, 113-110 with 1:18 remaining. On the ensuing play, Iverson hit a three-pointer to knot it again.

 Sixers' Andre Iguodala spun down the lane, but the ball sailed out of his hands towards the basket, where Dalembert put in the lay-up.

 With a chance to force overtime, Iverson missed a long jumper from the left wing and Marcus Camby failed on the put-back. Igoudala grabbed the rebound, raced to mid-court and heaved the ball towards the rafters as time expired.

 Iguodala scored 21 points, Dalembert had 17 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks for the Sixers (34-34) whose 11th win in the last 12th games put them at .500 for the first time this season.

 Carmelo Anthony scored 26 points, Kenyon Martin added 22 for the Nuggets (40-28) whose fifth straight road loss dropped them 2 1/2 games behind Golden State for the final Western Conference playoff spot.

 Elsewhere:    New Orleans Hornets 90, Houston Rockets 69    Bonzi Wells scored 20 of his 25 points in the final quarter against his former team and the Hornets sent the visiting Rockets to a second straight loss after their 22-game winning streak was snapped by Boston 24 hours earlier.

 David West had 23 points and 11 rebounds, Chris Paul added 21 and 10 assists for New Orleans (46-21) which outscored its guests 31-10 in the final frame to tie the Los Angeles Lakers atop the Western Conference standings.

 Tracy McGrady scored 15 points, Argentine rookie Luis Scola added 14 for Houston (46-22) which had its franchise-record 12-game road streak stopped after shooting just 34 per cent from the field.

 Cleveland Cavaliers 89, Detroit Pistons 73    LeBron James scored 30 points, Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 20 and the Cavaliers stopped the Central Division-leading Pistons' three-game run.

 Rasheed Wallace had 16 points for visiting Detroit (49-19), which scored a season-high 136 points against Denver on Tuesday night.

 Toronto Raptors 96, Miami Heat 54    Anthony Parker and Adrea Bargnani scored 14 points apiece as the Raptors held the league-worst Heat to the third-lowest point total in league history while ending a five-game skid.

 Phoenix Suns 110, Seattle Suns 98    Amare Stoudemire scored 26 points, Steve Nash had 23 with 11 assists and the visiting Suns hit 15-of-21 three-pointers en route to their sixth straight victory.

 Jeff Green had 19 points in Seattle's 13th loss in its last 14 games.

 Golden State Warriors 116, LA Clippers 100    Stephen Jackson scored 29 points, Monta Ellis added 28 and the visiting Warriors handed the host Clippers their fifth consecutive defeat.

 New Jersey Nets 125, Atlanta Hawks 117    Vince Carter scored a season-high 39 points, Richard Jefferson had 33 and Devin Harris added a career-best 26, as the Nets pulled into a tie with the visiting Hawks for the final Eastern Conference playoff berth.

 Joe Johnson netted 24 points for Atlanta (23-39) while Al Horford had 20 with 15 rebounds.

 Washington Wizards 87, Orlando Magic 86    Antawn Jamison had 31 points with 11 rebounds and the visiting Wizards withstood a career-high 39 points by Hedo Turkoglu to snap the Magic's five-game winning streak.

 Indiana Pacers 102, Charlotte Bobcats 95    Flip Murray tossed in 22 points, Shawne Williams had 14 of his 16 in the final quarter and the Pacers handed the visiting Bobcats their fifth straight defeat.

 Jason Richardson led the Bobcats (24-44) with 20 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.

 Minnesota Timberwolves 98, Memphis Grizzlies 94    Al Jefferson scored 22 of his 29 points in the second half, grabbed 13 rebounds and the Timberwolves handed the Grizzlies their 18th straight road loss.

 Rudy Gay tallied 25 points for Memphis (16-51) while Mike Miller had 20 with 10 boards.

By Paul Levine, dpa