DATE: Thursday, May 22, 1997                TAG: 9705220692

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C6   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   34 lines

IVERSON VS. SMITH: 76ERS, WARRIORS WILL PLAY OCT. 18 AT SCOPE

Joe Smith and the Golden State Warriors will face Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers Saturday, Oct. 18 in an NBA exhibition game at Scope, Warriors officials and the city of Norfolk said Wednesday.

The game will match two of the NBA's best young players in Smith, a Maury High School and Maryland alumnus; and Iverson, who graduated from Hampton's Bethel High School and played two seasons at Georgetown.

Iverson was the NBA's top draft choice and Rookie of Year this season. Smith went No. 1 in the draft and was third in voting for Rookie of the Year the year before.

The game likely will sell out quickly, officials said. An exhibition matching the Warriors and New Jersey Nets sold out last fall at the Hampton Coliseum. Thousands of fans were turned away at the 9,500-seat arena. Scope seats 10,258 for basketball.

The game is being co-promoted by Smith's sister, Celeste McFarland, and the city of Norfolk, said Bill Luther, the city's director of civic facilities. McFarland, who handles most of her brother's business affairs, also promoted the Warriors-Nets exhibition.

``It's a joint effort,'' Luther said. ``This is a great event to bring to Norfolk. There is tremendous local interest in Joe Smith and Allen Iverson.''

With the exception of summer exhibitions, Smith and Iverson last opposed each other in Hampton Roads in the 1993 Eastern Region tournament semifinals, when Bethel nipped Maury 52-50.

Smith had 37 points and Iverson 19, but Iverson helped shut down Smith defensively in the final minutes as Bethel erased a seven-point Maury lead and went on to win the state title.

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