Sixers Notes: Aching A.I. doesn't play vs. Clippers

Allen Iverson sat out his second straight game yesterday with arthritis in his left knee, which surfaced after the 34-year-old guard was already dealing with a stress reaction in his right fibula, and a contusion in his left shoulder.

Sixers coach Eddie Jordan said that Iverson would sit out Tuesday's game in Washington, but that he might play vs. host Utah on Saturday.

"Rest is the best thing for him," Jordan said before the 76ers played the Los Angeles Clippers. "He feels confident that he'll feel great the rest of the year. We'll just give him this rest."

On Friday, the Sixers, who shot just 30.8 percent from the floor in the first quarter of their 98-97 victory over the host Boston Celtics, managed to come back against one of the NBA's best teams with a determined fourth-quarter effort.

After trailing by 11 points at intermission, the Sixers' deficit was only four points entering the final period. There were seven lead changes and six ties during the last 12 minutes. Elton Brand, who scored a game-high 23 points in 27 minutes off the bench, tipped in the game-winner off a Marreese Speights miss with 7.7 seconds left.

Both Paul Pierce and Ray Allen missed shots for Boston as the clock wound down, and the Celtics had their 11-game winning streak snapped before a sellout crowd of 18,624 at the TD Garden.

The triumph over Boston was the Sixers' first this season against an opponent that entered the game with a winning record.

"Before the Cleveland game [a 108-101 loss], we said, 'Let's get a feather in our cap,' " Jordan said. "Let's get one of the big boys. We didn't do it that night, but we got it" on Friday.

The Sixers will begin a six-game road trip on Tuesday against the Washington Wizards before visiting Utah on Saturday, Portland (Dec. 28), Sacramento (Dec. 30), the Clippers (Dec. 31), and Denver (Jan. 3). After their longest stretch of away games of the season, the Sixers will return home to face Washington on Jan. 5.

Wondering why the Sixers went forward with last night's game despite the extreme weather conditions? The unwritten rule in the NBA is that if the visiting team and the game officials make it to town on schedule, the show goes on.

- Kevin Tatum