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Friday, Nov. 24 7:30pm ET
Iverson leads way in second half

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ATLANTA (AP) -- The real Allen Iverson showed up for the second half, and the result was another victory for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Allen Iverson
Allen Iverson, right, and Jason Terry chase a loose ball Friday night.
Bouncing back from a miserable start, Iverson scored 15 of his 21 points in the third quarter Friday night to lead the 76ers past the Atlanta Hawks 76-67.

"I'm just trying to win a championship," Iverson said. "It's been five years. I thought I would have won a championship by now."

Philadelphia, coming off its first loss of the season Wednesday at Charlotte, didn't play particularly well against the woeful, undermanned Hawks.

The Sixers (11-1) shot 37 percent from the field, committed 16 turnovers and hit only 18 of 32 free throws, allowing Atlanta (2-11) to keep the game fairly close even without leading scorer Jim Jackson.

Iverson missed all four of his shots to go along with three turnovers in the first half. But he scored 13 of Philadelphia's first 14 points to begin the third quarter.

"I had some good shots in the first half. They just weren't going down," Iverson said. "I never got into a rhythm. I was frustrated because those are the kind of shots I usually make."

He capped the spurt by hitting a 3-pointer that gave the Sixers a 57-46 lead at the midway point of the third. Philadelphia kept the Hawks at arm's length the rest of the way, never leading by more than 11 points or by less than six.

"Once he gets out in transition, he's probably one of the toughest besides Kobe (Bryant) to stop," said Atlanta guard Jason Terry, who had the job most of the night. "He can do so many things. He can pull up. He can attack the basket well. He just has a knack of getting to the basket. It's tough to stop him."

Atlanta pulled to 72-66 on Alan Henderson's layup with 1:37 remaining, but Iverson clinched it with a three-point play. He used a stop-and-go, between-the-legs dribble to blow by Terry, then made the shot despite being fouled by Dikembe Mutombo with 48.5 seconds to go.

"It's not easy to contain that guy," Mutombo said. "I'm glad I wasn't the point guard having to chase that guy."

"He really had a surge there in the second half," Terry added. "Like all great players, he put together a spurt to lift his team."

Iverson also helped at the defensive end, coming up with three steals and two blocks. The Hawks made only 4-of-18 shots in the third quarter.

"I've been struggling on offense," Iverson said. "I've been trying to get it done on defense."

Henderson scored 17 points to lead the Hawks, who made just 27-of-77 (35 percent) from the field in their lowest-scoring game of the season.

Jackson, who was averaging 17.1 points a game, went on the injury list beforehand with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee. Without him, the Hawks were hapless at the offensive end, scoring only 28 points in the second half.

"I think we played real good defense," Atlanta rookie DerMarr Johnson said. "We went out there playing hard, but our offense was bad all day and we rely so much on Jimmy. We've just got to make up for what he does."

The Hawks scored the first eight points of the game, only to have the Sixers clamp down defensively for an 18-2 spurt. Eric Snow had a couple of steals and Toni Kukoc added one, leading to layups and short jumpers.

Philadelphia led 25-15 late in the first quarter, but the Hawks took advantage of Iverson's dismal half to trail only 40-39 at the half.

Game notes
Terry, who started the first seven games at point guard before getting benched, was back in the lineup as Jackson's replacement. ... Iverson's 33-game streak of scoring in double figures ended Wednesday when he had seven points in the Sixers' 88-73 loss to Hornets. ... Atlanta's previous low-scoring game was a 94-69 loss to the New York Knicks on Nov. 2.


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RECAPS
Philadelphia 76
Atlanta 67

Boston 103
Orlando 98

Cleveland 85
Miami 80

Detroit 118
Vancouver 96

Indiana 99
Washington 87

Charlotte 106
Milwaukee 90

Denver 102
San Antonio 92

Phoenix 80
Golden State 74

Utah 97
New Jersey 85

Seattle 98
LA Clippers 81

LA Lakers 115
Minnesota 108


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