PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Allen Iverson hopes to return to the
lineup Monday when the Philadelphia 76ers play their first home
game in three weeks against the struggling Portland Trail
Blazers.
The 76ers won five games on their eight-game road swing to move
one game behind the New York Knicks in the Atlantic Division.
But Iverson, the NBA's leading scorer at 28.9 points per game,
sat out the finale of the trip, an 89-84 loss to the Minnesota
Timberwolves on Friday, because of a sprained right ankle.
Corliss Williamson came off the bench to score 21 points and
fellow reserve Marc Jackson added 17. But the starters combined
for just 34 points, as the Sixers fell to 0-2 without Iverson,
who is expected to be available for Monday's game.
One of Philadelphia's wins on the trip came in Portland,
111-104, on December 27. Iverson had his streak of three
consecutive 40-point performances snapped, but he scored 21 of
his 28 points in the second half and rookie Andre Iguodala added
a season-high 22 as the Sixers rallied from an 11-point
deficit.
The Trail Blazers' six game-road trip got off to a rough start
Sunday with a 113-105 loss to the New York Knicks.
Zach Randolph had 27 points and 10 rebounds and Ruben Patterson
contributed 20 points, but Portland lost its fourth in a row
despite shooting 55 percent (42-of-76).
The Blazers have dropped six of their last seven and are without
forwards Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Darius Miles, who were both
placed on the injured list last Friday.




