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Point made Sixers stop slide by holding off Knicks
Updated: Monday April 16, 2001 8:03 AM
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Now the Philadelphia 76ers are ready for the playoffs. Allen Iverson scored 27 points and Dikembe Mutombo added eight points and 16 rebounds as the Sixers beat the New York Knicks 89-82 Sunday, snapping a two-game losing skid and defeating a playoff-bound team for only the fourth time in 13 games. "It was important, because you want to make a statement heading into the playoffs," said forward Tyrone Hill. "You don't want teams to think they can come in your house and have an easy time." Philadelphia had lost two in a row, including a 24-point loss to Orlando, since clinching the top spot in the Eastern Conference last week. The Sixers are 14-11 since acquiring Mutombo on Feb. 22, but are 4-9 against playoff teams since the trade. Latrell Sprewell had 26 points and Othella Harrington added 14 points and eight rebounds for New York. "It was a statement game for us," Sprewell said. "Even though we didn't win, I think it showed it will be a battle if we face them in the playoffs."
The Knicks were without leading rebounder Marcus Camby and forward Larry Johnson. Camby missed his second consecutive game with a bruised hip, and Johnson sat out his fourth in a row with a sore back. The Sixers, who trailed by 10 points early, took their first lead since the opening minute, 23-22, on a jumper by George Lynch early in the second quarter and led the rest of the way. Sprewell scored eight consecutive points in the fourth, including a jumper that cut it to 79-77 with 3:14 left. But Iverson answered with a jumper over Sprewell and Lynch blocked Sprewell's driving layup, setting up a runner by Aaron McKie that made it 83-77 with 2:02 left. After Allan Houston made it 83-80 on a jumper and a free throw, Iverson hit a driving runner to give the Sixers an 85-80 lead with 49 seconds remaining. New York turned it over on its ensuing possession after Glen Rice missed a 3-pointer, and Philadelphia iced it at the foul line. "I'm encouraged when we win with defense and rebounding," Sixers coach Larry Brown said. "The little kid [Iverson] made two big shots. Lynch made a big tip-in. When they got within two points, we made defensive stops. That is the only way this team is going to survive." Iverson, who left the game briefly in the second with a lower abdominal bruise, was 10-of-24. He made a driving layup and nailed a jumper at the end of the first quarter after the Sixers had started 1-of-12. "We had three games to get ready for the playoffs," Iverson said. "I never really got worried at all. I felt like we could use those games to get it done." Houston, the Knicks' leading scorer at 18.7 points per game, had 15 points. He made only one of his first seven shots and finished 5-of-16. After New York closed to 63-58 on a 3-pointer by Houston midway through the third, the Sixers scored seven in a row. A layup by Matt Geiger gave Philadelphia its biggest lead of the game, 70-58, with 31 seconds left in the quarter. The Sixers had the NBA's best record, 41-14, before trading All-Star center Theo Ratliff and Toni Kukoc to Atlanta for Mutombo in a six-player deal hours before the NBA trade deadline. Injuries and lack of cohesion have hurt Philadelphia since the trade. "I thought it was a great trade for them," Knicks head coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "He's a shot blocker, and I think he's the premiere offensive rebounder in the game."
Notes: Iverson made a mental blunder in the third when he started
running down the court while complaining about a non-foul call
after missing a jumper. Geiger grabbed the rebound and looked to
pass it back to Iverson, who was nowhere to be found. ... Iverson
scored his 9,000th career point on a free throw in the first
quarter. ... The Sixers won three of four against the Knicks this
season, including a sweep at Madison Square Garden. ... Mutombo
reached 1,000 rebounds for the fourth time in his career. ... The
Sixers outrebounded New York 49-33.
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