Midway through the first quarter of a deflating 106-105 loss to the Bobcats, the Sixers' staff pointed out the miscue and Iverson's status quickly was amended to "not with team." But Iverson, who is on the team's active roster, remained on the statistics-displaying television monitor.

It might have been the prettiest thing on that monitor.

What wasn't pretty for the Sixers was the final few minutes of the game, the culmination of which was Charlotte's Raymond Felton cruising off a pick-and-roll and driving into the lane for the winning layup with 4.7 seconds remaining.

At the buzzer, Sixers swingman Andre Iguodala missed an off-balance jumper.

"Heck of a way to lose a game," Jordan, who appeared at a loss for words, said minutes later. "We put ourselves in a great position to win . . . just a heck of a way to lose, the way we've been losing games."

The defeat extended the Sixers' losing streak to nine games; they haven't won since beating the Bobcats on Nov. 18.

The Sixers led by 10 points - 99-89 - with a little more than four minutes remaining, then the bottom dropped out from under them.

They fell to 5-15; the Bobcats improved to 8-11.

Through 20 games, a quarter of the season, the Sixers have two victories over the New Jersey Nets, and one apiece over Charlotte, the New York Knicks, and the Milwaukee Bucks.

Last night, the television monitor's "A. Iverson" was a visual reminder of how things will change, one way or another, when Iverson makes his return debut tomorrow night against the Denver Nuggets at the Wachovia Center.

The Sixers were without a point guard last night. Rookie Jrue Holiday, who had been starting for the injured Lou Williams, did not play because of a strained right rotator cuff.

Today at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, the Sixers will practice with Iverson for the first time.

At the Time Warner Cable Arena last night, in front of a sparse crowd of 13,352, the Sixers lost to a team that the night before had lost to the previously winless Nets, ending New Jersey's winless start at 0-18.

A banked three-pointer by Willie Green beat the third-quarter buzzer and had you thinking, watching such a shot fall for the Sixers and not their opponent, that this could be the Sixers' night for victory.

It wasn't.

"It's hard to say, you know," Iguodala said. "We just have to put a complete game together and be ready for every situation. . . . It's just frustration is all. I think we played well enough to win."

Green finished with a team-high 26 points but suffered a bruise to his right hand. Both he and Iguodala are listed as day to day, Iguodala with a right-ankle sprain.

Iguodala finished the game 6 for 18 from the field but was three assists shy of a triple-double with 22 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists.

At the end of the second quarter, Iguodala jumped to catch an inbounds pass and appeared to land awkwardly on the ankle. He spent much of the game limping and continually shaking off Jordan's inquiries about needing a substitute.

"Andre was hurt all game," Jordan explained. "Obviously, it hampered him a little bit."

Of the last few minutes, Jordan said it was the difference between a guy or two taking over and not.

"That's what we're lacking."

Contact staff writer Kate Fagan at 856-779-3844 or kfagan@phillynews.com.