Economy, Part I:

Attendance for the home openers was down only 1% from a year ago, although 10 of the 30 NBA clubs did not draw capacity compared to seven last season. Some of that might be attributable to baseball's season lasting longer.

•Drawing the lowest attendance and with the biggest drop-off from last season were the Philadelphia 76ers, in the city of the National League champion Philadelphia Phillies.

The 76ers opened Friday — no baseball — vs. the Milwaukee Bucks and drew 14,638, 28% less than capacity and 7% less than last season's opener vs. the Toronto Raptors.

In New Jersey, with fans of the Phillies and New York Yankees, the Nets opened Friday vs. Eastern Conference champ Orlando — and were almost 8% below capacity despite former star Vince Carter playing for the Magic.

•The Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers also took double-digit percentage drops. The Bucks opened Saturday vs. the Detroit Pistons and drew 15,095, 19% less than capacity and 11% less than a year ago vs. Toronto. The Clippers opened last Wednesday vs. the Phoenix Suns and drew 15,974, 16% less than last year's sellout vs. the Los Angeles Lakers.

•The Sacramento Kings were the last to get a home game, Monday, and sold out (17,317 vs. the Memphis Grizzlies) despite finishing with the league's worst record last season. The Kings, with impressive rookies Tyreke Evans and Omri Casspi, drew 27% more fans than for last season's opener vs. the Grizzlies.

Economy, Part II:

Ticket prices fell for the first time since 2001-02, according to Team Marketing Report. The average price is $48.90, down 2.8% from last season. Prices declined for 14 clubs, remained even for 13 and slightly increased for three. A Lakers game at Staples Center is the highest average ticket ($93.25); a Grizzlies home game the lowest ($24.10). The Indiana Pacers lowered their average price 29.5%, the sharpest drop of any club.

Iverson irked:

It didn't take long for veteran guard Allen Iverson to express displeasure about coming off the bench with the Grizzlies — just one game.

Iverson, whose hamstring tear kept him from playing until Monday, scored 11 points in less than 18 minutes in a 127-116 overtime loss at Sacramento. He said he had no problems with the hamstring but plenty of problems with coach Lionel Hollins.

"Go look at my résumé and that will show you that I'm not a sixth man," said Iverson, a career 27.1 points per game scorer. "I don't think it has anything to do with me being selfish. … I don't want to change what gave me all the success that I've had since I've been in this league."

How Iverson, 34, would mesh with the young Memphis squad was high on the list of what to watch for in the early part of the season. Offense, Monday, was not the team's problem.

"Sometimes roles get defined that you have to be willing to accept," Hollins said. "We didn't expect A.I. to miss eight preseason games and three regular-season games, either. … Right now, he'll be great with the second unit."

Injury front:

Detroit forward Tayshaun Prince (lower back strain) did not play Tuesday vs. Orlando, ending his consecutive-games streak at 496. His games-played streak was second among active players to Portland Trail Blazers guard Andre Miller(535), and Prince's games-started streak of 439 was the longest active run. Prince last missed a game April 13, 2003, of his rookie season, vs. Memphis.

•Nets forward Yi Jianlian is out indefinitely with a ligament sprain in his right knee, leaving banged up New Jersey with just 10 players for today's game vs. the Denver Nuggets. The Nets are especially thin at point guard without Devin Harris (groin) and Keyon Dooling (hip).

Around the hardwood:

For his bat-swatting efforts on Halloween inside San Antonio's AT&T Center, Spurs guard Manu Ginobili had to get vaccinated for rabies. Ginobili, on his Facebook page, advised avoiding contact "with bats, skunks, raccoons, rats and animals like that." …Charlotte Bobcats forward Gerald Wallace has 63 points and 56 rebounds in 171 minutes of four games — and no assists. … Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony (leading scorers with a 37.7-point average entering Tuesday) is your choice for USA TODAY's NBA player of the week.

Contributing: Wire reports