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Sixers flourish in fourth to stun Celtics

Mon 24th, March 2008

Boston, MA (Sports Network) - Andre Iguodala scored 28 points and the Philadelphia 76ers dominated the fourth quarter en route to a come-from-behind 95-90 victory over the Boston Celtics at TD Banknorth Garden.

Iguodala also grabbed four rebounds and had four assists, and overcame an 8-for-15 night at the foul line to key a furious Sixers run that saw Philadelphia score 19 unanswered in the fourth and force Boston into 11 straight missed field goals on their way to turning an 11-point deficit into an eight-point lead.

Andre Miller added 20 points, six assists and six boards, while Thaddeus Young scored 16 to go with nine rebounds in helping Philadelphia to its sixth win in seven games. The Sixers (36-35), who climbed above the .500 mark for the first time all season, moved a half-game ahead of idle Toronto for the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference and are within a game of fifth-seeded Washington.

"It was big, you have no idea," Sixers head coach Maurice Cheeks said of the win. "We've come a long way to get over .500 and lot of credit goes to the guys in there. We just continue to fight and fight and we have a long way to go but this was a very impressive win for us."

Kevin Garnett led Boston with 18 points and five rebounds, while Leon Powe contributed 16 and seven in just 22 minutes off the bench, but the Celtics totaled just 19 fourth-quarter points on their way to a second straight loss.

"I thought what killed us was the turnovers and we put them to the line too much," Boston's Paul Pierce said. "They shot 44 free throws and we let the game slip away. It's no excuse, we gotta keep our turnovers down especially late in the game, execute our plays down the stretch of these games."

Boston (55-15) still holds a comfortable five-game advantage over Detroit for the East's top spot, but blew a chance at a season sweep of the Sixers, who had dropped the previous three meetings by a combined 51 points.

The Celtics held an 80-69 lead with 8:20 remaining in the game after Eddie House knocked down a jumper, but the Sixers ripped off a 19-0 tear from there thanks to aggressive defense and timely shooting.

Young drew a foul and hit the subsequent free throws, and Iguodala came up with a steal and a dunk on the ensuing Celtics possession to tie the game at 80 with under six minutes left. Iguodala then threw down a thunderous putback dunk to give Philadelphia its first lead since the early second quarter, and hit a free throw with 4:13 showing on the clock to make it a three-point game.

Boston continued to launch bricks, as Ray Allen missed a three and Garnett threw an ill-advised pass that Iguodala picked and took the length of the floor for a one-handed tomahawk slam and an 85-80 edge.

Allen again misfired from long range on the next Celtics possession, and Iguodala scored three consecutive points to push the lead to its largest margin, 88-80, with 2:15 to go. Garnett's baby hook rolled off the rim, completing the stretch of 11 straight Boston misses before Pierce finally stopped the bleeding when he drew a foul and hit a free throw with 1:38 left.

Miller's turnover with just over a minute to go gave Boston a fighting chance, but Philly's Lou Williams stripped Eddie House at the other end, then hit 1-of-2 free throws with 47.6 ticks left to make it 89-81.

House and Allen each hit jumpers to put pressure on the Sixers down the stretch, but by that point the damage was done, and Philadelphia completed the comeback by hitting the majority of its free throws in the final minute.

Williams finished with nine points for the Sixers, who hit just 1-of-9 three- point attempts and only 30-of-44 at the line, but did outrebound Boston 42-34 and forced 15 Celtics turnovers.

Allen totaled 14 for Boston, though he scored just four after the opening quarter, and Pierce added 12 points. Boston had won 11 of 12 at home, and suffered just its sixth loss (29-6) of the season on that floor.

Boston held a 28-22 lead after the first quarter behind 10 points from Allen, but Philly opened the second on a 9-2 spurt and took its first lead, at 31-30, on a pair of free throws from Williams.

Boston responded with a 7-0 run, capped by Garnett's jump hook, to take a 39-34 lead with about five minutes to go before the half. Pierce's three with 1:19 left made it 49-42, and the Celtics took a 52-48 advantage to the break.

The Sixers continued to hang around throughout the third period, tying the game on a couple different occasions and never falling behind by more than four until the final minute.

Miller tied the game at 66 with just over a minute left, scoring on a pretty hesitation move, but House buried a three and Glen Davis knocked down a pair of free throws to give Boston a 71-66 edge on its way to the fourth.

House knocked down another deep three with the shot clock running down to give the Celtics their largest lead to that point, at 78-68, with 10:40 remaining.

Game Notes

Despite the fourth-quarter drought, Boston still shot a respectable 45 percent from the floor for the game, including 7-of-20 from beyond the arc...House totaled 11 points, while Rajon Rondo added six and seven assists...The Sixers improved to 16-20 on the road, and have won 12 of their last 15 overall; aside from not having broken .500 this season, Philly had not had a winning record at all since November 15, 2006.

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