Iverson steps up despite fractured thumb

By KEVIN TRESOLINI

Gannett News Service

ATHENS, Greece — Nobody was surprised that Allen Iverson played. And nobody was surprised Allen Iverson played well.

Having learned earlier Tuesday he had a fracture in his right thumb, Iverson went out and scored a team-high 17 points and sparked the United States to a 77-71 victory over Greece in the Summer Olympics at the Helliniko Indoor Arena.

The Philadelphia 76ers guard was 3-for-7 on three-pointers — his teammates were a collective 1-for-14 — and played a team-high 29 minutes, 40 seconds. Nine of his points came in the first quarter.

"He was awesome tonight," teammate Carlos Boozer said. "He hit so many big shots at the beginning to get it going."

Iverson suffered a non-displaced fracture of his thumb in Sunday's one-sided loss to Puerto Rico in the Olympic opener. He aggravated the injury in practice Monday. Subsequent X-rays revealed the fracture. Iverson had hurt the same thumb in last year's Olympic qualifying tournament and missed the final two games.

But Iverson, who has fought through a myriad of injuries during his NBA career, was determined to play Tuesday.

"I just felt like if they didn't have to put a cast on it, then I would try and play," said Iverson, who wore a small bandage on his thumb. "I came out and shot before the game, I felt some discomfort, but I felt like I was good enough to play."

"That's Allen," said teammate Richard Jefferson.

It was a drastic improvement from Sunday, when Iverson's 1-for-10 shooting on three-pointers was one of the prime causes of just the third defeat in 112 Olympic games for the U.S.

"Allen played great," said LeBron James, whose 10 points also came in handy for the U.S. on Tuesday night. "He's always been a competitor. He's always played hard. It's exciting to see a guy push through the injury the way he did, which isn't easy at all."