For one game, fellow guards Larry Hughes and Eric Snow stole the spotlight from Allen Iverson.
Hughes hit a tying 3-pointer with seven-tenths of a second left in regulation and Snow sank a 16-footer at the overtime buzzer, giving the Philadelphia 76ers a 122-121 victory over the Detroit Pistons.
In the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, the Pistons did an effective job of cutting off the high-scoring Iverson and appeared to have closed the game with a 7-0 burst until Hughes forced overtime with just his sixth 3-pointer of the season.
Detroit scored the first five points of overtime and still held a 119-114 lead with 1:42 left after consecutive baskets by Jerome Williams. Iverson and Snow made jumpers and the 76ers converted a turnover by Grant Hill into a breakaway layup by Iverson for a 120-119 lead with 16 seconds to go.
Hill atoned for his giveaway by drawing a foul on a drive and making both free throws for a one-point lead with 8.4 seconds left. The Sixers elected not to call timeout and inbounded to the speedy Iverson, who dribbled up the right side of the court and passed to Aaron McKie. McKie swung a pass to the left side to Snow, who faked a defender and buried the open shot as the buzzer sounded.
"It was a great decision because they didn't get to set up and we didn't have to worry about setting up in the half-court," Iverson said. "It was get it and go and it worked for us."
"It was all about taking advantage of the opportunity," Snow said. "I knew they were gonna double-team Allen; I told him so. So I just got the ball, took a good shot and fortunately it went in."
Philadelphia coach Larry Brown did not think Snow would end up with the game in his hands.
"I didn't know he would be the guy but the kid made three jumpers in overtime and played defense like crazy with five fouls on him.," Brown said. "If you ask me if I thought it was going to end like this, I would have said, `No way.' It's a great end to a long day."
Iverson and the rest of the Sixers threw a hug around Snow, a stark contrast to Saturday's 104-91 loss in Detroit. In that game, Brown benched his starters with 8:15 left in the third quarter and Iverson reacted by asking for a trade.
With 76ers president Pat Croce mediating, Brown and Iverson met today and ironed out their differences.
"I felt like I was a 10-year-old kid being punished on Christmas morning with no toys," Iverson said before the game, backing off his trade talk. "I know I reacted badly. If it happens again I won't run my mouth."
"He felt by not playing him I was disrespecting him," Brown said after today's practice. "I felt bad about it because that was not my intention."
After the game, Brown and Iverson appeared to be on the same page.
"There are gonna be days with him that are gonna be rough and some that are gonna be easy. It's like dealing with family," Brown said. "There are things that were said that needed to be said and probably need to be said again."
"After I left the room this morning, I had a good feeling about me, coach and the team," Brown said. "It was the realest conversation I had with coach. I know he's not gonna do anything to hurt this team. Coach and me are gonna do this together. We're all soldiers. It's as simple as that."
Iverson scored 32 points on 12-of-29 shooting. Hughes scored 20 points off the bench. Snow scored six of his 10 points in the extra session and added a season-high 12 assists. Iverson had seven assists and Snow and Hughes made three steals apiece.
"We've got a good group of guys here," Snow said. "Nothing bothers this team much."
Hill scored 32 points on 13-of-22 shooting for the Pistons, who had seven players in double figures.
"We had it covered. We had all the people we wanted to cover and got the ball out of Iverson's hands," Pistons coach Alvin Gentry said. "(Snow) was the guy we wanted to make the shot and to his credit, he did."
With Hill taking control, the Pistons led throughout most of the first three quarters and took an 86-82 advantage into the fourth period. The Sixers opened the quarter with an 11-4 run to take the lead and the Pistons tied it at 101-101 with 3:16 remaining on a 3-pointer by Lindsey Hunter, who scored 10 points.
Iverson answered with a pair of 3-pointers around a basket by Christian Laettner to give Philadelphia a 107-103 lead with 2:19 to go. But Hunter blanketed Iverson down the stretch and his two free throws gave Detroit a 110-107 lead with 5.1 seconds to play, setting up Hughes' heroics.
"They hit two buzzer-beaters, at regulation and at overtime," Hill said. "We're up by three with five seconds to play and we didn't close it out. We have to go back and regroup."
