BOSTON — NBA scoring leader Allen Iverson could miss the rest of the regular season and at least part of the playoffs after breaking his left hand Friday night against the Boston Celtics.
Iverson is expected to miss 4-to-6 weeks with the injury to his non-shooting hand, diagnosed by X-rays taken at New England Baptist Hospital after he played the entire first half of the Philadelphia 76ers’ 96-91 victory. 

“It’s really unfortunate. That kid works so hard,” Eric Snow said. “We’ve got to survive, like he’d want us to.” 

Iverson, last season’s NBA MVP, sat out the second half when Philadelphia rallied from a 50-45 deficit. The broken bone is below his index finger, on his non-shooting left hand.

“This gives the rest of our teammates a chance to step up,” said Derrick Coleman, who had 10 of his 15 points in the second half. “Pulling together is what the character of our team is all about.” 

At 36-32, Philadelphia has the sixth best record in the Eastern Conference, one game ahead of Charlotte and Indiana, who are tied for the final two playoff spots. The 76ers lead ninth-place Washington (32-37) by 4 1/2 games Philadelphia coach Larry Brown noted Iverson is expected to miss 4-6 weeks, “so I’d imagine he’s done,” but added that “he would shoot with his left hand in a sling. 

“He can help me. I know he’ll be very supportive and we’ll figure it all out.” 

Iverson began the season on the injured list after undergoing right elbow surgery on Sept. 25 and the 76ers are 1-7 without him this season. They did OK Friday as Snow had 12 points and Iverson’s replacement, Speedy Claxton, added nine in a comeback from a 50-45 halftime deficit. 

But it won’t be easy to replace a player who averaged 31.5 points before Friday’s game. He also leads the NBA with 2.8 steals and 44 minutes per game. 

He showed his determination by playing, and excelling, even with the injury. 

Iverson apparently was hurt with 7:01 left in the first quarter when he was fouled by Tony Battie and made two free throws that cut Boston’s lead to 8-5. 

“It was in the first quarter,” Snow said. “He was telling me the whole half, ‘it’s broke, it’s broke.’ He kept saying it. And this was before he hit the two threes in the second quarter. 

“He probably could have fought it out and kept playing, but why? I mean, go out there and make it worse?” 

Iverson missed the first five games of the season while coming back from elbow surgery and Philadelphia lost all of them. He came back in the sixth game and the 76ers won their first seven with him. 

Iverson led the 76ers in scoring in all but six of the 60 games in which he’s played. 

“The kid is playing as good as anyone in the league,” Brown said. “You just don’t replace him. We’ve all got to do a great job.” 

The Sixers overcame the loss of Iverson as Snow and Coleman combined for 21 second-half points.

Iverson, the NBA scoring leader, still led the 76ers with 22 points, hitting seven of 12 shots, but Boston never trailed in the first half.

Speedy Claxton replaced Iverson in the lineup and energized the 76ers. He scored seven of their first 15 points of the second half, giving them a 60-56 lead.

The Celtics tied the game at 86 on Antoine Walker’s 3-pointer with 6:40 left. Coleman then hit three straight baskets for a 92-86 lead, and Walker got the next four points, making it 92-90 with 2:12 left.

Snow restored the four-point lead with a layup with 1:50 to go before Boston’s Paul Pierce hit a free throw, closing the gap to 94-91 with 23 seconds remaining. But Snow finished off the victory with two free throws with 19 seconds left.

Snow scored 17 points, 12 in the second half. Coleman had 15, including 10 in the second half. Boston was led by Pierce with 26 points and Walker with 17.

Philadelphia won its fifth straight road game. Boston had won eight of its previous 10 games, starting with a victory in Philadelphia on March 4 that ended a four-game losing streak.

In his last game in Boston, Iverson set the FleetCenter scoring record with 47 points in a 106-90 Philadelphia win on Jan. 25. And in his last game before Friday, he scored 38 points in an 82-77 loss to Miami on Wednesday night.

The Celtics took their biggest lead, 33-18, with 58 seconds gone in the second quarter on Walter McCarty’s 11-foot turnaround jumper. The 76ers took their first lead 2:43 into the third quarter when Claxton’s driving layup made the score 54-53.

Notes: Coleman started after missing Wednesday night’s