Associated Press PHILADELPHIA — The 76ers’ new owner had a welcome postgame message for coach Doug Collins. ADVERTISING “First place, 6-2,” said a smiling Josh Harris as he shook Collins’ hand. What a fantastic early return on his investment. All
Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — The 76ers’ new owner had a welcome postgame message for coach Doug Collins.
“First place, 6-2,” said a smiling Josh Harris as he shook Collins’ hand.
What a fantastic early return on his investment. All the Sixers are playing a role in this roll to the top of the Atlantic Division.
Andre Iguodala scored 20 points and Lou Williams added 13 to help the Philadelphia 76ers win their fifth straight game, 96-86, over the Indiana Pacers on Monday night.
Led by Iguodala and a deep roster, the Sixers are dominating in the second half to turn close games into comfortable ones. Against the Pacers, it was a 15-3 run in the third quarter that helped them pull away. The Sixers used a 30-8 run in the third to beat Toronto on Saturday night.
The Sixers have made the most of their favorable home stretch, winning in Philly for the third time in four nights. After an off day Sunday, the Sixers played the first game of a three-night stretch, that includes Sacramento and Wednesday’s game at New York.
“As long as we continue to keep our mistakes low and be defensively sound, we’ll be fine,” Iguodala said.
The Sixers are winning without any superstars, and entered with six players averaging 9.9 or more points. Sure enough, six players reached double figures against the Pacers and there was no one person for the Pacers to key on.
Nikola Vucevic hit a 3-pointer that capped the Sixers’ 15-3 run in the third and gave them a 69-54 lead. Jrue Holiday got the lead back to double digits in the fourth with a 3 and help them win five straight for the first time since Jan. 31-Feb. 9, 2010.
The Sixers (6-2) are off to their best start since they went 10-0 in 2000-01.
Indiana’s Danny Granger, averaging a team-high 14.9 points, sat out with food poisoning. Pacers guard George Hill (back) also did not play. Roy Hibbert led the Pacers with 19 points and David West had 15 points and 11 rebounds.
“We are a pro team, so if one person doesn’t show up, the rest of us need to step up and play,” Hibbert said.
Tyler Hansbrough scored 10 points for the Pacers. He was scratched in an eye in the third quarter and did not return.
Sixers center Spencer Hawes started after suffering a strained back against Toronto and scored 12 points.
Hawes and Thaddeus Young went inside in the final minutes for a couple of clutch baskets that held off the scrappy Pacers. Williams forced a turnover and Iguodala went down and buried a 15-foot fadeway for a 94-84 lead. Hawes took a charge on the next possession and a small, but enthusiastic, crowd stood and applauded their first-place Sixers.
“We didn’t defend at a high enough level,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. “They share the ball. Doug Collins has them playing really good basketball.”
Darren Collison and Holiday, former teammates at UCLA, didn’t have quite the epic showdown expected out of the young star guards. But both will have plenty of more chances as their teams blossom into threats in the East.
The Sixers reversed a 2 of 8 start with an 8 for 12 finish in the first quarter and stretched their lead to 45-40 at the half. The Sixers failed to keep a double-digit lead because of a general sloppiness that led to 11 turnovers.
Led by Williams, Vucevic and Young all scoring in double figures, the Sixers again had a great effort off the bench. Indiana’s reserves scored only 19 points.
“Their game plan was to dominate our second group,” Williams said. “We kind of took offense to that. I think we came out a little juiced up more than other games. We sustained leads and created some separation.”
KNICKS 91,
BOBCATS 87
NEW YORK — Carmelo Anthony shook off a poor shooting night to make the tiebreaking basket with 2:39 remaining and score 22 points, and the Knicks avenged an embarrassing loss to Charlotte last week.
Amare Stoudemire also shot poorly but had 25 points and 12 rebounds, while Tyson Chandler finished with 20 points and 13 boards. Anthony was only 6 of 18 from the field, but scored eight of the Knicks’ final nine points.
BULLS 92, PISTONS 68
CHICAGO — Carlos Boozer scored 23 points and the Bulls beat Detroit for their 13th consecutive victory against the Pistons.
Derrick Rose added 22 points and eight assists for Chicago, which bounced back from Saturday night’s lackluster 109-94 loss at Atlanta.
HAWKS 106, NETS 101
NEWARK, N.J. — Josh Smith scored a season-high 26 points and the Hawks shot nearly 54 percent from the field in beating the Nets for the third time this season.
Joe Johnson added 22, Jeff Teague had 20 and Al Horford had 14 points and nine rebounds as the Hawks led for all but a few seconds in winning their third straight game overall.
HORNETS 94,
NUGGETS 81
DENVER — Carl Landry scored 21 points, Chris Kaman added 20 and the Hornets handed the Nuggets their first home loss in five games this season.
Marco Belinelli scored 19 and Jarret Jack had 13 points and nine assists for the Hornets, who avenged a home loss to the Nuggets on Friday.
RAPTORS 97,
TIMBERWOLVES 87
TORONTO — Andrea Bargnani matched his season-high with 31 points, Amir Johnson had a season-high 19 points and 11 rebounds for his second straight double-double and the Raptors beat Minnesota for the 14th time in the team’s past 15 meetings.
