Jackson scored 16 points and harassed Iverson into a terrible second half as the Kings rallied for a 94-84 victory over the slumping Philadelphia 76ers.
Christie, one of the best defensive guards in the NBA, suffered a cut hand in Sunday's loss to Dallas that needed seven stitches to close. He sat out and Jackson started in his place with the assignment of guarding Iverson, the reigning NBA MVP, who had scored 99 points in his last three games.
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from Sixers-Kings: 56k | 300k  Mike Bibby and the Kings were solid from outside. Rocky Widner/NBAE/Getty Images |
"The guy is extremely athletic and knows how to get to the basket and draw fouls and make baskets," Jackson said. "My teammates did a great job with me and having my back. I just had to come out and contain him and make him work hard."
Jackson also found the time to launch 25 shots, making just seven.
"We told him to ice his right arm down," joked Kings coach Rick Adelman. "I thought maybe him and Allen had something going there.... I think he was just really revved up and ready to go and emotions took over a lot of the time."
Peja Stojakovic had 20 points and 12 rebounds and Mike Bibby scored 18 points while spelling Jackson in hounding Iverson as the Kings won for the seventh time in nine games heading into Friday's showdown with the league-leading Los Angeles Lakers.
"The guys helped us out a lot," Bibby said. "Everywhere he went, there was always someone helping us, so it was a good team effort. That's what you need against the type of player like that."
"(Jackson) was terrific defensively on Iverson. So was Mike," Adelman said. "They really made him work. That's all you can do with that guy. That's a tough job."
Derrick Coleman scored 15 points and Raja Bell added 14 for the Sixers, who opened a five-game road trip with their fourth loss in five games.
Already without injured guards Eric Snow (broken thumb) and Aaron McKie (irregular heartbeat), Philadelphia lost rookie guard Speedy Claxton to dizzy spells early in the first period. Vonteego Cummings came on for Claxton and committed four fouls in the first half.
"I thought losing Speedy and Vonteego getting four fouls really hurt," 76ers coach Larry Brown said.
"We have to play with the guys that suited up tonight," Iverson said. "We'd like to go with the players that are injured, but that's the way this thing works."
Iverson scored five points in an 11-0 run that opened the second half and gave Philadelphia a 57-48 lead. The Sixers still held a 63-58 advantage midway through the third period but went cold as the Kings took control.
Stojakovic made two 3-pointers and Jackson scored four points in a 15-3 run that closed the quarter and gave Sacramento a 74-66 lead. Bibby and Scot Pollard began the final period with hoops, extending the advantage to 12 points.
"The third quarter was key," Stojakovic said. "We played really good defense and rebounded the ball wonderfully."
"We started playing their tempo in the game and we lost control of the game," Sixers center Dikembe Mutombo said.
A basket by Hedo Turkoglu gave the Kings their largest lead at 84-69 with 6:51 to go. The Sixers closed to 86-81 with 3 1/2 minutes to go but missed shots on their next two possessions. Bibby and Jackson made layups to seal it.
Turkoglu scored 15 points and Pollard had 13 rebounds and seven blocks for the Kings, who shot 42 percent (37-of-89).
Mutombo had 10 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks and Cummings scored 10 points for the Sixers, who shot 39 percent (33-of-85) and held a 51-49 rebounding edge.
Coleman was ejected for arguing with 1:07 remaining.