Hornets Halt Sixers' Streak

The Philadelphia 76ers lost their cool and their perfect record.

Elden Campbell scored 22 points and Allen Iverson was held to seven as Charlotte beat Philadelphia 88-73 Wednesday night to end the 76ers' season-opening winning streak at 10 games.

"We knew we weren't going to go 82-0 the whole season, but it still hurts when it finally happened," Iverson said. "We had a great run, but it's over now."

The Hornets, who have won three consecutive games following five straight losses, held both Philadelphia and Iverson to season-low point totals.

Iverson, who entered the game 11th in the NBA with a 23.1-point average, was held to 3-of-17 shooting. The 76ers, a franchise-best 10-0 before Wednesday, shot 34 percent from the field and were outrebounded 60-39.

They also got hit with three technical fouls in the decisive first half.

"They are used to being the aggressor, that's how they win," Wesley said. "They beat teams by making the hustle plays and we were the ones making the hustle plays. That frustrated them early."

The Sixers were flat from the beginning and never led.

Philadelphia was called for a shot clock violation on its first possession, Eric Snow had his shot blocked by Baron Davis on the team's second possession, and when Snow complained about not getting a foul call, he was hit with a technical.

Theo Ratliff turned the ball over on a bad pass on Philadelphia's third possession and the Sixers were in a quick 5-0 hole.

"They took us out of everything we wanted to do," Philadelphia coach Larry Brown said. "We took so many quick, bad shots with no ball movement and we were murdered on the boards.

"And we didn't match their effort through the first half and that's a bad combination."

Still, Philadelphia recovered and trailed only 19-18 at the end of the first quarter. But the 76ers completely unraveled before halftime.

As the Hornets quietly built a 10-point lead, the Sixers complained about non-calls through much of the second quarter resulting in technicals called on Tyrone Hill and Iverson.

When the half ended, Charlotte had a 42-32 lead and Iverson was surrounded by Philadelphia's assistant coaches as he screamed at the officials on his way off the court.

"Coach said we looked like strangers on the floor and we did," Iverson said. "Our offense wasn't very good."

Charlotte, meanwhile, could do no wrong.

When Philadelphia pulled within 47-39 on George Lynch's reverse layup with 9:14 to go in the third, Charlotte answered with a 16-2 run.

Campbell hit a jumper and two free throws, then Wesley hit a quick 20-foot jumper on a long pass after Campbell blocked a shot.

Jamal Mashburn and Davis hit consecutive 3-pointers, then again made consecutive baskets to put Charlotte up 63-41 with 3:49 left in the third.

Philadelphia never got closer than 16 from there.

Mashburn finished with 16 points. Davis had his first career triple-double, with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. Campbell had 11 rebounds and eight blocked shots.

Snow, Matt Geiger and Vernon Maxwell each had 10 points for the 76ers.

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