Iverson, Philly Upend Kings

February 24, 1999 / 9:27 PM EST / AP

Allen Iverson owned the game, even though the league's newest hotshot, Jason Williams, pulled off the move of the night.

Iverson scored 36 points and handed off 10 assists Wednesday night to thoroughly outplay Sacramento's dazzling rookie as the Philadelphia 76ers held the league's highest scoring team 19 points below its average in a 94-81 victory.

"I can't judge him entirely by one game," said Iverson, who despite the pre-game hype was rarely matched man-to-man against Williams, "and he didn't have a bad game. But he probably didn't play the way he wanted to play."

One fan brought a sign that read: "White Chocolate is Not The Answer," a reference to both players' nicknames.

The sign was right, but the fan who brought it must have walked away in awe of Williams' best move.

With the game more or less decided with five minutes left in the fourth, Williams dribbled left-handed to the basket from the right wing, brought the ball completely around his back without using his right hand and without losing his dribble and put in a lefty layup that brought the entire First Union Center crowd to its feet.

"It was a great move, a great move," Iverson said. "I even got a piece of the ball when he made the move, and he still put it in."

"I wish that move was worth 15 points instead of two," Kings coach Rick Adelman said.

Iverson, who said Michael Jordan was the only other visiting player to have made a Philly crowd react that way, answered immediately with a jump shot for his final field goal of the night.

Iverson scored 18 points in the first quarter alone and finished 15-for-32 from the field, while Williams had 10 points on 4-for-11 shooting with seven assists and four turnovers.

"I think I could have stayed with him," said Williams, who spent much of the night matched against Philadelphia's Eric Snow. "I would have been quick enough to stay with him, but with his skills he would have tricked me a few times, I'm sure of that."

George Lynch added season highs of 19 points and 14 rebounds and rookie Larry Hughes had a season-high 17 for the Sixers, who have held 14 consecutive opponents below 100 points.

Chris Webber had 21 points and 11 rebounds for Sacramento.

Sacramento stayed close into the early part of the third quarter before Philadelphia broke the game open with a series of highlight-reel plays by Iverson and Hughes.

Hughes had three dunks two on alley-oop passes from Iverson and Iverson had a fast-break layup on which Williams simply stepped out of his way in an 8-0 run that made it 71-59.

The Kings couldn't put a decent run together after that, especially after Webber picked up his fifth foul just 49 seconds into the fourth quarter.

As the teams walked off, Iverson and Williams exchanged a few friendly words.

"I know what he's going through with all the hype," Iveson said. "I know he had some trouble nowhere near what I went through and people will love him or dislike him. I told him to keep playing hard and trying to find ways to win."

Notes: Sixers president Pat Croce vehemently denied a published report in the Philadelphia Inquirer that the team was considering trading Tim Thomas and Scott Williams to Denver for Bryant Stith or Eric Williams. ... Hughes, who had been sporting one of the largest Afros in the league, showed up with a short haircut. ... The Sixers signed 16-year veteran Rick Mahorn and waived center Benoit Benjamin. The Kings had two new players on their bench, center Scot Pollard and guard Michael Hawkins.

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