Iverson’s 41 Points Give 76ers a Boost

Allen Iverson scored a season-high 41 points, reaching the 40-point plateau for the 51st time, to lead the Philadelphia 76ers over the Minnesota Timberwolves, 99-94, Wednesday night at Philadelphia.

Kevin Garnett had 24 points and 16 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who had won three of four, including a 16-point victory over the three-time defending champion Lakers on Tuesday.

“We knew they’d have a lot of confidence after beating the Lakers handily,” Iverson said. “It doesn’t matter that the Lakers are struggling. They’re still the Lakers. We wanted to jump on [Minnesota] early.”

Iverson made 10 of his first 15 shots and scored 26 points in the first half to help the 76ers build a 19-point lead at halftime.

He finished 14 for 29 from the field and made 11 of 16 free throws.

Houston 95, Indiana 83 -- Yao Ming had 29 points, 10 rebounds and six blocked shots to overcome 27 points by Jermaine O’Neal and lead the Rockets at Houston.

Yao was held scoreless by Indiana in his NBA debut, the Rockets’ season opener.

Washington 118, Memphis 100 -- Michael Jordan took over early, scoring 18 of his season-high 33 points in the first quarter at Washington and helping the Wizards win their third in a row.

Jordan made 14 of 23 shots, including eight of 11 in the first quarter, to hit a season high in points for the second time in as many games.

Miami 91, Boston 81 -- Eddie Jones scored 21 points to lead Miami to its third road victory in 12 games.

Miami held Boston to only three baskets over a span of 17 minutes 51 seconds -- from the first quarter until the opening minute of the third.

Detroit 111, Cleveland 106 -- Chauncey Billups scored eight consecutive points in overtime and finished with 23 to lift the Pistons at Cleveland.

Billups made a three-point basket to put Detroit ahead to stay, 106-103.

The Pistons extended their winning streak to five games.

Orlando 97, Utah 90 -- Pat Garrity scored 24 points at Salt Lake City and the Magic ended a two-game losing streak despite playing without forward Grant Hill, who dressed but sat out to rest his surgically repaired ankle.

Dallas 80, Denver 75 -- Michael Finley scored 31 points at Denver and the Mavericks handed the undermanned Nuggets, who dressed 10 players, their sixth consecutive loss.

Dallas defeated the Nuggets for the fifth consecutive time.

San Antonio 91, Seattle 88 -- Tony Parker scored 22 points and Tim Duncan barely missed a triple-double with 18 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists for the Spurs, who ended a four-game road losing streak.

Chicago 96, Toronto 83 -- Jalen Rose scored 20 points at Chicago to lead the Bulls, who have won five of their last six games and who ended a 16-game losing streak to Toronto.

Golden State 111, New Orleans 106 -- Antawn Jamison had 35 points and 13 rebounds for the host Warriors, who kept their poise in a tense fourth quarter in which they never led by more than five points.