Jones, Hornets Sting Sixers

For someone who chased Allen Iverson around for two hours, Eddie Jones had an awful lot left for his game-winning shot.

Jones bounced in a 19-foot jumper with 2.2 seconds left, giving the Charlotte Hornets a 95-93 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night..

"I just wanted to let him know, shut up," said Jones, who had 27 points against Iverson in a duel of the East's starting All-Star backcourt. "They can say whatever they want, because it went in."

Iverson, who had 28 points, was closely guarded when he passed up a chance at the game-winner. He passed to Aaron McKie, who played with Jones at Temple. McKie barely got off a 20-footer that was short at the buzzer as David Wesley ran at him.

"I thought his man was going to come help, because he was playing off him," Iverson said. "Aaron recognized that, and he called my name. ... I knew I only had 2.2 seconds. I had to do something. I had to make a decision."

After Iverson tied it at 93 on a jumper with 23.6 seconds left, Jones motioned for his teammates to clear out. Jones drove to the middle and lofted a high-arcing shot that hit the backboard, the front rim, the backboard again and went in to give the Hornets their fourth straight victory.

"I've never seen a shot go in like that," Sixers coach Larry Brown said.

Jones, who runs around screens in a style similar to Iverson's, had McKie on him for part of the game, too.

"Both those guys gave me a hard time,"Jones said. "Aaron played great defense. Allen's a great offensive guy who likes to play defense. He was running so much that I was really tired just trying to keep up with him."

Elden Campbell had 19 points and 12 rebounds for Charlotte. Former Sixers forward Derrick Coleman showed up in the second quarter after a court hearing in Charlotte on a drunken driving charge. He had 14 points in 27 minutes.

"It's been a long, hectic day," Coleman said.

Brown talked with Larry Hughes on Wednesday afternoon about playing amid trade rumors, then sat the second-year player on the bench for the entire second half with the exception of the last play.

Hughes followed McKie's miss after the buzzer and hung on the rim for his only action of the second half.

"I'm not going to get into that," said Brown, who has been entertaining trade offers for Hughes for weeks.

Charlotte took its first lead since the opening minutes when Jones' 3-pointer made it 87-86 with 3:37 left. Iverson made a running jumper to give Philadelphia an 88-87 lead with 2:46 to go.

Chucky Brown had a putback and a jumper which followed an offensive rebound by Coleman and Iverson made one of two from the line to tie it at 91 with 89 seconds left.

After a miss by Coleman, Iverson lost the ball while driving. At the other end, Eric Snow poked the ball away from Wesley. It went through Jones' legs apparently not touching him and stayed with the Hornets. Coleman got fouled on a leaner and made both, making it 93-91 with 32.6 seconds to play.

That's when Iverson got wide open for a 20-footer, leading to Jones' clutch game-winner.

Coleman scored the last eight points of an 18-8 run that pulled Charlotte within two, 66-64, with 2:37 left in the third. Anthony Mason cut it to 69-68 with two free throws with 1:31 left in the quarter, but Philadelphia led 73-69 going into the fourth.

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