Philadelphia, PA (My Sportsbook) - Philadelphia 76ers All-Star guard Allen Iverson was in the starting lineup on Friday night against Cleveland, despite an injury that was expected to keep him on the bench.

Iverson injured his right thumb on the final play of regulation in the Sixers' 101-99 overtime win against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday. An MRI revealed on Thursday that Iverson suffered a sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament and a small incomplete fracture of his thumb.

The three-time scoring champion was still in a splint on Friday.

In training camp this season, Iverson suffered a fracture of his right third finger and missed the Sixers' first preseason game, but returned earlier than expected in the next game against Washington.

This season, Iverson is averaging a team-best 28.8 points, 5.0 assists and 2.25 steals in 43.0 minutes per game, while shooting 36.1 percent from the field.

Iverson, who led the NBA in scoring (31.4 points per game) for a second straight season last year, missed 22 games due to injury in 2001-02. He missed the final 14 games of the regular season with a fractured left hand, but came back for the first round of the playoffs against Boston.

The 27-year-old Iverson captured the MVP award in the 2000-01 season, when he led Philadelphia to the NBA Finals for the first time in 18 years.

Iverson missed training camp and the first five games of last season following right elbow surgery in September 2001. Philadelphia lost all those games.

The Sixers finished 7-15 without Iverson in the lineup last season and are 22-34 in his career when he doesn't play.