Allen Iverson 40pts va Ray Allen Seattle Sonis 02/03 NBA *Series of crossover moves

Larry Brown believes Allen Iverson is playing the best basketball of his career -- a point that was difficult to argue after what Iverson did Friday night.

Iverson scored 40 points in leading the 76ers to a 108-99 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics, giving Philadelphia its 11th win in 12 games since the All-Star break.

"He's had the best year since I've been around him," said Brown, who has been coaching Iverson for the last six seasons.

"He's a Hall of Fame coach," said Iverson. "So I guess he knows what he's talking about as far as my game goes. That makes me feel good to get a compliment like that."

Iverson shot 15-of-27 from the field and the Sixers shot 51.9 percent.

Seattle, which had five players score in double figures, had its six-game home winning streak snapped.

"Tonight (Iverson) was pretty consistent throughout the game knocking down shots," said Sonics coach Nate McMillan. "Every time we tried to make a run it seemed like he came up with a big basket. When he has that going, there is nothing you can do except hope that he misses some shots."

Keith Van Horn scored 26, Derrick Coleman had 14 points and 14 rebounds and Eric Snow also had a double-double with 14 points and 10 assists.

It was Iverson's third game this season with 40 or more points and the fourth time this season that the Sonics allowed an opponent to score 40-plus points.

"You're at his mercy when he's hitting his jumpers," said Kevin Ollie, who came off the bench to score 12 points.

The Sonics were led by Ray Allen's 24 points, but he was double-teamed and hounded by defenders the entire game. Although he led the Sonics in scoring for the seventh straight game, Allen shot only 8-of-23 from the field. Vladimir Radmanovic had 20, Brent Barry added 14, and Rashard Lewis added 12.

"We threw a lot of different guys at Ray Allen tonight," said Aaron McKie. "We chased him around, bumped him and gave him a lot of different looks. He's always been able to score so we wanted to keep after him."

The Sixers dominated on the inside, outscoring the Sonics 50-28 in the paint. Seattle scored many of its points from the outside, going 13-of-23 from 3-point range.

"We couldn't stop their penetration," said McMillan. "All night long they were playing in our paint with either Snow or Iverson. They were breaking down and forcing our bigs to step up and leave the basket open for offensive rebounds."

Philadelphia outrebounded Seattle 37-29 and had 11 offensive rebounds.

Iverson took over in the third quarter when he scored 14 of his points.

Van Horn's fast-break layup with 6:09 left pushed the Sixers' lead to 97-79. Seattle responded with a 14-3 run, capped by Lewis' 3-pointer with 2:18 to play that cut Philadelphia's lead to 100-93. The Sonics would not get any closer.

The Sixers are now 11 games over .500. It's their highest mark since they opened the season15-4.

"We're playing very well right now," said Iverson. "We just have to keep doing the same thing we've been doing since the break."

Game notes
McMillan and C Jerome James were fined $7,500 and $5,000, respectively, by the NBA for criticizing officials following Wednesday's loss to Utah. ... Sonics C Elden Campbell missed his second straight game with the flu. ... Barry has made at least two 3-pointers in each of the past five games. ... Snow, who has been in double-figure scoring in each of the last 27 games, has posted more than 10 points and 10 assists in four of the last five games.... Van Horn suffered a cut chin during a scramble for a loose ball in the second quarter. It required six stitches. ... Kenny Thomas missed his second straight game with a sprained ligament in his right ankle.