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Fun in Philly Iverson's 33 pushes Sixers past Heat
Posted: Tuesday April 11, 2000 11:08 AM
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- It was a new day, for both teams. A day after a lackluster loss for Philadelphia and a thrilling buzzer-beater win for Miami, the 76ers humbled the Heat with a 96-80 victory Monday night. The win snapped Miami's seven-game win streak and kept Philadelphia in the race for the home-court advantage in the first-round of the playoffs. "This game meant a lot. It made us forget about the last game," said Allen Iverson, who scored 18 points in the first half Monday, matching his point total from Sunday's game. He finished with 33 against Miami. "I left that game in Orlando. I never thought it about it again once we left." Eric Snow added 12 points and 10 assists for Philadelphia, which stayed in fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings, one game ahead of Charlotte. The No. 4 seed has home-court advantage against No. 5 in the first round of the playoffs. The Hornets defeated Washington 107-105 Monday. "We played hard against a quality team," 76ers coach Larry Brown said. "If you have any hopes of doing anything in the playoffs, you have to beat quality teams." It was a tough loss for Miami, which had pulled out to a three-game lead in the Atlantic Division by beating New York in overtime Sunday on Tim Hardaway's 25-footer at the buzzer.
This was the first home win by Philadelphia over the Heat in four seasons at the First Union Center. Miami holds a 3-1 lead in the series this season. "Allen got off the ball pretty well tonight," Miami coach Pat Riley said. "That was probably one of the first times that we didn't really contain him a little bit better." Philadelphia stumbled during the first quarter, falling behind 22-18. But the hosts outscored Miami by 21 over the next two periods and coasted to the win. The Sixers backcourt of Snow and Iverson outscored Miami's Hardaway and Majerle, 45-9. Iverson led his team with 18 first-half points, including a fast-break layup off an assist from Toni Kukoc with 9:08 left in the second quarter that made it 29-26 for Philadelphia, which never trailed again. Iverson, who broke his left toe against Toronto March 22, has not been practicing but still playing full games. "I can't help the team on the bench. Even with a broken toe, I can help them on the floor," he said. "It's a little hard for me to run by people like I want to." The 76ers opened the second half with an 11-2 run, capped by a 16-foot jumper by Iverson and a pair of free throws from Theo Ratliff, to give the Sixers a 54-39 lead with 9:09 left. Iverson scored 12 points in the third quarter, including outmaneuvering Miami's Dan Majerle for a pair of 16-foot jumpers with about seven minutes left. Kukoc, who had 12 points and five assists, and Snow repeatedly set up Iverson. Late in the second quarter, Kukoc sent Snow a nice pass for a 3-pointer to put the 76ers up 43-37 with 1:38 left. Kukoc's 3-point shot from the left corner followed by a free throw by George Lynch gave the Sixers their biggest lead of the night, 83-60, with 9:41 left. Miami's players appeared to grow frustrated by a series of calls against them midway through the third quarter, and Riley picked up a technical with 5:30 left. After that, the Heat let up. Down 21 points with eight minutes left in the game, Miami's starters were all on the bench. Hardaway played just three minutes in the fourth quarter and scored only four points. Jamal Mashburn led the Heat with 16 points and eight rebounds, though he went just 5-of-16 from the field. Alonzo Mourning scored 13 points a night after getting 33 against New York. "'We can't let this (loss) be like the plague and spread. Let this just be a bump in the road," Mourning said. "We've got to get ourselves back on track." Snow's layup with 1.7 seconds left in the first half gave the 76ers a 45-37 lead at the break.
Notes: The 76ers have won six in a row at home, a season high. ... The Heat are 30-3 this season when they hold the opponent to less than 90 points. ... Mourning leads the league in blocks, with 284 this season. He had two Monday. ... Miami has hit at least one 3-pointer for an NBA-record 502 straight games. ... The 76ers had only two turnovers in the first half, the lowest number since the team began playing in the First Union Center in 1996.
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