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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
CHICAGO (AP) -- Trust Allen Iverson -- it's not as easy as he
makes it look.
|  | | Allen Iverson scored eight of his game-high 33 points in the final 6:12. |
Iverson scored eight of his 33 points in the last 6:12 Saturday
night as the Philadelphia 76ers survived a rally by the Chicago
Bulls to win 99-91. He was 9-of-13 from the line and grabbed five
rebounds.
And, oh, yeah, he picked up the slack in Eric Snow's absence,
dishing out eight assists.
"I'm asking him to do a lot of other things," 76ers coach
Larry Brown said. "Allen is handling a lot of responsibility. He
is getting better every day. This was not his best game, but it is
a typical game."
With the Utah Jazz losing to Cleveland, the 76ers (18-6) once again have the best record in the NBA to themselves. And the Bulls are still the NBA's worst team at 3-21.
But at least they made the 76ers work for their victory. Ron Artest led the Bulls with a career-high 29 points, including 15 during a third-quarter rally that gave Philadelphia a scare.
The 76ers reeled off 14 in a row midway through the fourth,
including the eight by Iverson, to preserve the win.
"We don't have any easy games," Iverson said. "We know guys
are going to come out and they want to beat us. We have the best
record in the East, so obviously teams want to get up for those
games."
Philadelphia reserve Aaron McKie added 18 points on 7-of-9
shooting, and Theo Ratliff had 14. Todd MacCulloch had 13 rebounds.
Elton Brand and Ron Mercer each had 20 for the Bulls, and Brand added 14 rebounds and seven assists.
"We're not trying to get moral victories, we're trying to get
real victories," Brand said. "We thought we had a chance at this
one."
After Ratliff gave Philadelphia a 65-51 lead with a 16-foot
jumper with 7:23 left in the third, Chicago came roaring back with
a 15-1 run. Artest led the attack, hitting a 19-foot jumper and
then dunking three times in a 30-second span. He was fouled by Tyrone Hill on the first dunk, missed the free throw, grabbed the
rebound and then stuffed it with a one-handed slam.
Mercer scooped up a bad Iverson pass and fed it to Artest, who dunked again to cut the 76ers' lead to 65-59 with 5:53 left in the third.
"I was trying to attack," Artest said. "Ron gave me some good
passes and I was just trying to attack them."
Philadelphia called a timeout, but the Bulls kept up their run,
with Bryce Drew hitting a pull-up jumper and Brand making a hook
shot, his first shot of the second half. Mercer then converted a
three-point play, tying the game at 66 with 3:23 left in the
quarter.
"They're a young team and those young teams have a lot of
energy," McKie said. "You almost have to expect (a rally)."
And, this season, you have to expect the 76ers to respond. Jumaine Jones
scored on a finger roll, and McKie hit a 3-pointer to push
Philadelphia's lead back to 76-73 at the end of the third.
Brand got the Bulls to 82-81 with 7:11 left to play, but McKie
hit a fadeaway to start a 14-0 run. Iverson scored eight points
during the run, capping the spurt with a 13-foot jumper that gave
Philadelphia a 96-81 lead with 3:21 left.
"We have a lot of people injured, and a lot of people stepped
up," Brown said. "Allen Iverson had a phenomenal game. Aaron
McKie, Theo Ratliff, you name it, a lot of guys had good games. We
got it done."
Game notes
The 76ers had 17 turnovers, and the Bulls turned them into
17 points. ... Former Bulls player Toni Kukoc got a loud ovation at the start of the game. He finished with six points, four rebounds and three assists. ... Bulls center Brad Miller, on the injured list since Nov. 11 with a broken right hand, hopes to return for
Thursday's game in Orlando. "I'm looking forward to it," he said.
"It's boring dressing up and sitting there the whole time."
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Philadelphia Clubhouse
Chicago Clubhouse
RECAPS
New Jersey 89
Atlanta 83
Charlotte 99
Boston 87
Cleveland 99
Utah 92
Minnesota 113
Indiana 110
Philadelphia 99
Chicago 91
Denver 102
Houston 100
San Antonio 90
Phoenix 82
Miami 93
Golden State 85
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Larry Brown Official Site
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