With Keith Van Horn sidelined and Allen Iverson playing poorly, the Houston Rockets took advantage against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Yao Ming had 20 points and 13 rebounds as the Rockets defeated
Philadelphia 88-79 Friday night.
Iverson, playing with left knee bursitis, missed 19 of his 23 shots, including his final 16, and finished with just eight points -- all in the first quarter. He wasn't fouled and missed his only free throw.
The Sixers lost Van Horn to a foot injury in the second quarter.
An MRI revealed a strained plantar fascia and bone bruise. Van Horn
will be day-to-day.
"When you play so many games, you are going to have one of
these nights,'' Iverson said. "I struggled mentally and
physically. I just couldn't get on track. I just want to forget
this one.''
Iverson, who had his knee drained before the game, isn't sure if he'll play against Sacramento on Sunday.
"There's no way I can play like this,'' Iverson said. "I'm going to have to sit out. My wife didn't think I should play tonight, but I was stubborn. It didn't bother me before the game, but it got worse as the game went on.''
James Posey added 19 points and 12 rebounds as the Rockets moved
within one game of Phoenix for the final playoff spot in the
Western Conference.
"We're going to have to play like this every night,'' Posey
said. "We're still in the thick of things.''
Kenny Thomas had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Eric Snow added
17 points for the Sixers, who had their three-game winning streak
snapped and dropped to 20-6 since the All-Star break. The Sixers
are 1½ games behind first-place New Jersey in the Atlantic Division.
Houston, which trailed by 11 at halftime, scored the first 10
points of the fourth quarter, taking a 73-64 lead. Cuttino Mobley
began the run with a turnaround jumper and ended it with another
turnaround shot.
After the Sixers got within 73-68, the Rockets put it away with
a 12-4 run. Posey's third 3-pointer made it 82-72, and a 3-pointer
by Mobley gave Houston its biggest lead, 85-72, with 3:30 left.
"The significance of this game isn't just moving up in the standings,'' Yao said through his interpreter. "It was big for our spirits.''
Iverson, having perhaps his best all-around season, had averaged
30.8 points and 9.4 assists in his previous five games. But the
three-time NBA scoring champion couldn't find his shooting touch
all night. He had six assists.
"If AI is going to miss 16 straight, we're in trouble,'' Sixers coach Larry Brown said. "We didn't have anybody who could make a shot.''
A 16-4 run in the third quarter gave the Rockets a 60-58 lead.
The Rockets made six straight free throws before Steve Francis hit
a 17-foot jumper to tie it at 58. Francis then made another
17-footer to put Houston ahead by two.
The Sixers took a 40-29 lead following a 14-4 run midway through
the second quarter. Aaron McKie and Derrick Coleman hit consecutive
3-pointers during the spurt and Coleman closed it with a 20-foot
jumper.
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Every time there was a missed shot, the Philadelphia 76ers showed just how desperate they were.
Dominating the rebounding matchup and outscoring Detroit 38-16 on points in the paint, the 76ers got back into their second-round series by defeating Detroit 93-83 Saturday night to cut the Pistons' lead in the series to 2-1. Game 4 is Sunday night.
Led by big men Kenny Thomas, Derrick Coleman and Tyrone Hill, the 76ers outrebounded the Pistons 48-30 and scored 27 second-chance points in a one-sided game that offered little suspense in the second half.
"We played awful. Horribly,'' Detroit's Tayshaun Prince said. "They killed us on the boards -- especially offensive rebounds.''
Thomas had a double-double before halftime and finished with 10 points and 14 rebounds -- five on the offensive end -- before pulling a leg muscle late in the third quarter. He said his injury was not serious.
Hill had nine points and six rebounds in just 22 minutes, but that was still more than Detroit's Ben Wallace managed to contribute in 36 minutes. The NBA's leading rebounder was held to six points and six rebounds.
"His numbers may not look as good as normal, but I don't question his heart or effort,'' Detroit coach Rick Carlisle said. "He'll bounce back tomorrow, and we'll bounce back tomorrow.''
Allen Iverson had 25 points and 11 assists, Keith Van Horn had his best game of the series with 17 points, and Coleman added 15 points and eight rebounds. The 76ers grabbed one-third of their rebounds on the offensive end.
All five Philadelphia starters reached double figures as the Sixers avoided falling behind 3-0 -- a deficit no NBA team has ever overcome.
"This was enormous,'' Sixers coach Larry Brown said.
"It does something for our psyche, the mental aspect,'' Iverson said. "We come into our own crib and are able to win decisively, it gives us a lot of motivation going into the next game.''
The Pistons might have point guard Chauncey Billups available for Game 4. A sprained ankle kept him sidelined for the second straight game, and Billups said afterward he's 50-50 for Sunday.
Richard Hamilton led Detroit with 24 points, Tayshaun Prince had 17 and Chucky Atkins had 13 filling in for Billups. No one else on the team scored more than seven.
Thomas strained his right quadriceps muscle while going for a rebound against Wallace and left for good with 3:50 left in the third quarter.
By then, the Sixers were ahead 64-44, and they never needed Thomas back. Van Horn made a 3-pointer 14 seconds later to give Philadelphia its largest lead -- 22.
Jon Barry hit a 3-pointer with 3:12 left to pull the Pistons to 86-75, but Iverson scored Philadelphia's next five points to keep it from getting any closer.
The 76ers asserted themselves on the boards early. When Hill grabbed the third offensive rebound of a single possession and turned it into a three-point play for a 23-18 lead, it gave Philadelphia a 17-4 edge in rebounding.
"The rebounds were a joke. The second-chance points in the first half was embarrassing,'' Barry said.
The Pistons gave Atkins a rest at the start of the second quarter, and Iverson took advantage of his matchup against slow-footed Barry to spark an 8-3 run that gave the Sixers a 31-22 lead.
Thomas had a double-double -- 10 points and 10 rebounds -- after making a 12-footer to cap a 7-0 run that gave Philadelphia a 44-30 lead. Detroit scored seven of the next eight points, but Snow ended the half with a jumper for a 48-37 lead after Price committed a traveling violation while isolated one-on-one against Hill.
Van Horn's 3-pointer capped a 7-0 run to start the second half, putting Philadelphia ahead by 18. The Sixers led by at least 16 for the rest of the third quarter.
Game notes
Cliff Robinson was only 1-for-6, and Barry was 2-for-6. ... Philadelphia's Aaron McKie also struggled, going 0-for-3 from the field. ... Detroit's Danny Manning had his first playing time of the series, playing the final 4½ minutes and picking up three fouls with no points. ... Van Horn became a father for the fourth time Saturday when his wife gave birth to their third daughter, Haley.