76ers, Knicks have that look as East's best.(Chicago Tribune)

NEW YORK_They were talking at Madison Square Garden Thursday about someone using foul language in public, and it wasn't a New Yorker. Go figure.

"This was the first time I ever acknowledged a fan and said something," said Allen Iverson, who was caught in another controversy this week over his response to an allegedly abusive heckler in Indianapolis. "I'm sorry the way I responded, but it was Allen Iverson and I have the X on my chest."

Yes there's much the two best teams in the Eastern Conference have in common.

Their top players, Iverson and Latrell Sprewell, often have upset the sensibilities of the public. Our forefathers left the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia and it got damaged. They were going to leave it in New York but they figured it would get stolen. Theses are the only cities where one can buy pretzels in the street. And the Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers are the two teams most likely to tie opponents up in knots.

Thursday night they performed their twist-and-tie act on one another in what may well have been a preview of the Eastern Conference finals. That's a series that could resemble late-afternoon traffic in either of the cities: Not much movement, plenty of anger and frustration, a few bumps and dents and mere relief when it is over.

When it was over the 76ers improved the best record in the NBA to 35-11, 21-5 on the road, with a tough 87-80 victory. Iverson, although shooting 11-for-30, led the 76ers with 31 points while playing all 48 minutes.

"You have to give Iverson credit," Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "He made the big shots."