PHILADELPHIA -- Allen Iverson served his suspension, even if he didn't learn a lesson.
One day after sitting out the 76ers' loss to the Miami Heat on Thursday night after missing the morning shootaround, Iverson returned to the lineup and had 24 points and nine assists to lead the Sixers to a 99-97 victory over the Utah Jazz on Friday night.Iverson, who reacted angrily to the suspension and said he felt "betrayed" Thursday night, wasn't entirely remorseful after Friday's game.
"Maybe I'll do it again, maybe I won't," said Iverson, who was booed upon his introduction Friday. "If I'm sick, I'll call in to say I can't make it. I'm gonna do what's best for Allen Iverson's health, and I'll definitely think of my teammates when I make the decision."
Iverson maintained that a headache is a good enough excuse to miss practice. He reportedly hosted a party at a South Beach nightspot the night before the Miami game.
"If I don't feel well, I don't feel well," he said. "Maybe my headaches are different than yours. I felt it could've been handled another way."
Sixers coach Larry Brown said he hopes the matter has been resolved.
"We hope there's closure to it and it's over," Brown said.
Iverson has had several problems with the Sixers during his four-year career, and this suspension was a culmination of a series of missed practices. Iverson has missed practices this season for reasons ranging from a snowstorm to his daughter's illness.
"The suspension wasn't just about one practice," Brown said. "I should have handled it sooner. You can't have rules for one guy and rules for the rest of the team. You have to care enough about each player to be on time, to get to practice and be responsible."
Iverson said he called the team trainer, took two ibuprofen and went back to sleep on Thursday morning instead of attending practice.
General manager Billy King said he called Iverson's room shortly thereafter, but there was no answer.
"If you don't talk about the other incidents, people will look at you like you're crazy," Iverson said. "If you just go on this one incident, you look bad. You have to throw the other part into it."
Iverson, 24, was suspended for a game once before when he missed a practice in New York three years ago.
In December, Iverson lashed out at Brown after being benched for the final 20 minutes of a loss at Detroit. Iverson said then he should be traded if Brown was unhappy with him.
Team president Pat Croce said the latest incident is over.
"Allen is smart enough to learn from these episodes," Croce said. "Every family has squabbles."
Croce said he was "stunned" to hear Iverson say he felt betrayed by the suspension.
"I asked him, 'What do you mean betrayed by the franchise? I am the franchise,"' Croce said. "He said 'I didn't mean you.' I think that was Allen just being defensive."'
Brown said Iverson is the only player he has suspended in his 28 years of coaching. Brown, 59, appeared fed up with the entire situation.
"I have a team to worry about, not just one guy to cater to," Brown said. "I just want to coach, not worry about guys being responsible."
Iverson's teammates said the incident is behind them.
"I don't think he means anything by his mistakes," Matt Geiger said. "A mistake is only a mistake if you do it twice."
OUCH: Earlier this week, as an experimental compromise to the edict that coaches must agree to wear microphones when asked by the networks for nationally televised games, the NBA allowed New York Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy to forego the mini-mike in lieu of a large boom mike that was extended over team huddles during timeouts.
Van Gundy was allowed to waive off the boom mike when he did not want it to pick up what he was saying. The NBA still has not decided if this is a permanent compromise to the touchy subject. Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, for one, hopes it is not.
"I have to accept it, I guess, if they make a compromise on it," Sloan said, "but I don't accept the fact that they put a mike in our huddle -- no.
"It's no different than putting one up your rear end, because that's where they're putting it," added Sloan, who is obviously sensitive to the subject. "I mean they're putting it right up your rear end when they hold it up over your head, and tell you when can you talk, and when you can't talk."
MISC.: Karl Malone played 37 minutes against the 76ers, pushing him past the 44,000-minute plateau and making him just the seventh player in NBA history to play that many. Malone's total is now 44,015. . . . Malone's double-double (31 points, 13 rebounds) was his 34th of the season. . . . Jazz guard Jeff Hornacek, who missed an part of Thursday's loss at Cleveland when he surgically repaired left knee acted up, played 29 minutes without incident on Friday.
Tim Buckley contributed to this report