It won't take long for Allen Iverson to face his former team.

He'll get his chance in his sixth game with the Denver Nuggets when they host the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday.

In one of the biggest NBA trades in recent memory, Iverson was traded to Denver (16-12) along with Ivan McFarlin on Dec. 19 for Andre Miller, Joe Smith and a pair of draft picks. McFarlin was later waived.

Iverson, a seven-time All-Star, endured a difficult final season with Philadelphia (8-22), getting fined for missing a charity bowling event and later demanding a trade. It marked a bitter end for one of the most popular players in 76ers' franchise history, with his 10-plus year tenure being highlighted by his MVP award in 2000-01 - the season he led the team to the NBA finals.

Iverson, the top overall draft pick in 1996 by the Sixers, also was known for his clashes with his coaches in Philadelphia, most notably Hall of Famer Larry Brown. This season, there was friction between the guard and coach Maurice Cheeks.

With that in mind and the Sixers floundering with the worst record in the NBA, Philadelphia decided it was finally time to rebuild by trading Iverson.

"We haven't won a championship, and I think we were a long way from winning a championship, even with Allen,'' Sixers chairman Ed Snider said after the trade. "It was time for us to take a deep breath and say we've got to move in a different direction. Allen wanted to move in a different direction.''

The trade came at a good time for Denver, which was without NBA leading scorer Carmelo Anthony due to his involvement in a brawl at New York on Dec. 16. Anthony drew a 15-game suspension and won't get the chance to suit up with Iverson until Jan. 22.

With Denver missing Anthony as well as J.R. Smith (16.7 ppg) due to a 10-game suspension for his role in the melee, Iverson has been forced to shoulder the load and has averaged 28.6 points and 8.8 assists in five games. He averaged 31.2 points and 7.3 assists in 15 games this season with the Sixers.

Iverson will not be returning to Philadelphia until next season, since the Nuggets already have made their annual visit there.

Miller, who played for Denver for three full seasons before the trade, is averaging 15.0 points and 8.2 assists in five games with Philadelphia while Joe Smith has played sparingly.

Denver is 2-3 with Iverson after an 89-85 loss to Dallas on Sunday. He had 28 points, eight assists and seven steals, but the Nuggets were outscored 26-16 in the fourth quarter.

"This one was hard to take,'' Iverson said. "We had it. We had the game and didn't finish it out.''

Nuggets center Marcus Camby returned after missing four games with a broken finger, finishing with 13 points and 13 rebounds for his 14th double-double of the season.

"I sat out the last four games,'' Camby said. "I felt like I couldn't miss any more time.''

Philadelphia has had other players step up as it adjusts to playing without Iverson. Andre Iguodala has been one of the biggest beneficiaries, averaging 22.3 points over his last eight games.

While Iguodala has flourished, it's been the opposite for former All-Star Chris Webber. The power forward, who has butted heads with Cheeks over playing time, has been inactive the last two games with a bruised right foot.

Webber is posting career lows of 11.0 points per game on 38.7 percent shooting.

The Sixers fell to 1-3 on a seven-game Western Conference road trip with a 104-94 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night. Kyle Korver scored a season-high 29 points to lead Philadelphia.

Denver has won five of its last seven games against Philadelphia, including a 108-101 road victory on Nov. 10. The Nuggets also have won five of the past seven meetings at home.