Eric Snow

Former 76ers guard Eric Snow, who was the starting point guard for the 2001 team that advanced to the NBA Finals, has been named the color analyst alongside play-by-play man Marc Zumoff for all Sixer telecasts on Comcas SportsNet and The Comcast Network. Snow is Zumoff's fourth partner in 4 years, following Steve Mix, Bob Salmi and Ed Pinckney, who left during this offseason to take a job as an assistant coach with the Chicago Bulls. Snow will debut tonight when the Boston Celtics visit the Wells Fargo Center (7 o'clock)

Philadelphia certainly doesn't need celebrity sightings to legitimize its standing as a basketball showcase - especially celebs from that dreadful town up the turnpike to make a special trip to the First Union Center to bask in our limelight. That's what Donald Trump did yesterday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals between the 76ers and the Toronto Raptors. There he was, The Donald, having made his own art of the deal for tickets with Sixers president Pat Croce, taking in the Allen Iverson-Vince Carter duel from south-end courtside seats.

Eric Snow shrugged off cynicism about his shooting, threw on his uniform, and walked toward the court at the Bradley Center ready to do what he always does - take care of business. This was Saturday night, minutes before the 76ers began their 82-79 upset of the Milwaukee Bucks, days after it was learned that Allen Iverson would miss three weeks because of a broken right thumb, and seconds after Snow had been asked yet again about his recent play. "I know what my job is," Snow said.

Sixers coach Larry Brown didn't conduct one of his patented two-hour practices yesterday, probably because he knew most of his team would not have shown up. Allen Iverson is receiving treatment on his cracked ankle, his right elbow, his broken big left toe, and goodness knows what else. Point guard Eric Snow, absent from Games 3 and 4 of the opening-round playoff series against Charlotte because of his chipped right ankle, received treatment yesterday in hopes that he would be ready for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, which will take place Saturday afternoon.

Making the NBA All-Defensive team this season makes perfect sense to 76ers center Dikembe Mutombo. Certainly more sense than 1994-95. That's because Mutombo was named to the first team yesterday for the third time in his 10-season career. But he's been the Defensive Player of the Year four times, meaning that in '94-95, he earned that honor as a second-team choice. The league's head coaches vote for the All-Defensive team; a national media panel votes for the Defensive Player of the Year, which Mutombo won this season.

The Little Guy negated the Big Guy and the no-chance 76ers stunned the world-champion Lakers last night with a 107-101 overtime victory in Game 1 of their David-and-Goliath NBA Finals. Allen Iverson, jabbering with taunting Lakers fans but performing with remarkable calm in his first Finals, scored 48 points, including seven straight in the extra period. The improbable victory on the home court of the Lakers gave the Sixers a one-game-to-none lead in the franchise's first championship series since 1983.

If the 76ers are going to qualify for the NBA Finals again, they will have to do it fighting through yet another devastating injury. On Friday night, guard Allen Iverson, the NBA's leading scorer - and the heart and soul of the Sixers' push to the Finals last season - suffered a broken left hand during a 96-91 victory over the Boston Celtics in Boston. Doctors said Iverson is expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks. The regular season ends April 17; the playoffs are scheduled to begin three days later.

Allen Iverson can pencil in Eric Snow as his 76ers backcourt mate for the next few years. According to two people in Toronto close to the situation, Snow, who was scheduled to visit with the Raptors today, canceled the visit and has agreed to a multiyear contract with the 76ers worth about $3 million per year. The number of years on the deal was not disclosed. The contract cannot be signed until Aug. 1, when the NBA will lift its one-month moratorium on all deals. "He's not coming here," a source with the Raptors said.

Allen Iverson scored 24 points in 24 minutes and added six rebounds and four assists as the 76ers topped the Washington Wizards, 84-80, in an NBA exhibition game last night at the Palacio de los Deportes. A crowd of 17,824 saw the Sixers raise their preseason record to 2-1. Tyrone Hill was the only Sixer other than Iverson to score in double figures. He had 10 points. Theo Ratliff chipped in defensively with four blocked shots. Guard Speedy Claxton, the Sixers' top draft pick, scored one point and fouled out in 21 minutes.

For those curious about the war of words that took place between Penny Hardaway and Eric Snow in Orlando during the 76ers' 79-68 loss on Tuesday, the Sixers' starting point guard was more than happy to provide some insight. Describing it as just basketball but adding that there were some heated words between the two, Snow alluded to Hardaway's intent to pick on Iverson instead of others a bit larger than the Sixers' 6-foot-1 guard. "I told him to pick on me," Snow said. "He kept talking about how easy it was for him to back Allen in the paint.