PHILADELPHIA — In a touch of irony, the first game for the Detroit Pistons after the end of their Allen Iverson experiment was where his NBA career began.

The Pistons played the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday, one day after president Joe Dumars announced that Iverson would miss the rest of the regular season and playoffs with a back injury.

The Pistons lost to the 76ers, 95-90. Before the game, coach Michael Curry was asked what went wrong while Iverson was in Detroit and if there was any way the marriage between the Eastern Conference finalist of the previous six seasons and the certain first-ballot Hall of Famer could have worked.

Curry said a training camp with Iverson could have helped. Dumars orchestrated the Chauncey Billups-for-Iverson trade two games into the season.

"I've always been a big believer in training camp," Curry said. "In some of our areas where we struggled while Allen was playing, I think we could have been better in those areas had we been in training camp. I just think getting used to playing with him and him used to playing with the other guys, you could have gotten that done in training camp.

"The reality is that once you get into the season, the amount of physical practices you have are very, very limited and (training camp) is where you get your timing and get used to playing with each other."

Instead, the team and Iverson were forced to try to work things out on the fly.

Curry said the two most aggressive players in the team — Iverson and Rip Hamilton — basically played the same position. That created chemistry problems when the Pistons tried to play Iverson at the point, but Hamilton downplayed the notion that he and Iverson could not co-exist.

"It wasn't a big thing to us," Hamilton said. "Me and Allen both knew that. We both wanted to win; we both would go hard and be aggressive.

"It's not like Allen couldn't play the point. He had played it in his career."

As for the future, Curry thinks Iverson's absence might help the team as roles become more settled and players can get into more of a routine.

"It wasn't so tough on me," Curry said. "I think it was more tough on the players with the changes they had to go through.

"Players hate uncertainty and they hate change. They like routine, and that's a big part of how you become successful."

Curry also thinks Iverson, a free agent this summer, has a future in this league, although Curry indicated Iverson probably will have to adjust to his aging body and may have to accept a nondominant role on a team.

And Curry and Hamilton were quick not to assign blame. It just didn't happen for the Pistons.

"It's unfortunate things didn't go as well as we would like this year," Curry said. "Hopefully this time off will give him a chance to really get his body back into top competition and be prepared for free agency."