NBA Game Summary - Detroit at Philadelphia

03.24.2005

Philadelphia, PA (Basketball News) - Rookie Andre Iguodala recorded the first triple-double of his career and Allen Iverson scored a game-high 39 points, leading the Philadelphia 76ers to a 107-84 win over the Detroit Pistons at the Wachovia Center.

Iguodala posted 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the Sixers, winners of four of their last six games. Iverson, the league’s scoring leader, also dished out 10 assists and Chris Webber netted 19 points in the win. Philadelphia is No. 8 in the Eastern Conference playoff race, as it holds a one game lead over the idle Orlando Magic for the final postseason berth.

"Dre does it all for us," Iverson said of Iguodala. "He can do a lot for us. I take my hat off to him."

Rasheed Wallace paced the Pistons with 17 points and nine boards. Chauncey Billups had 15 points and Tayshaun Prince chipped in 12 for Detroit, which has lost two in a row. The defending-champion Pistons, though, finished the season series versus Philadelphia, 3-1.

The Pistons were without Richard Hamilton, who is hampered with a sprained ankle, and head coach Larry Brown. Brown has left the team to undergo more surgery related to the hip procedure he endured earlier in the season. Gar Heard is currently coaching the Pistons.

Iverson’s three-pointer staked the 76ers to a 26-11 lead. Philadelphia then carried a 31-17 advantage into the second quarter. Iverson had 11 points after 12 minutes of play. Iverson made a reverse layup with 6 1/2 minutes to go in the first half and the Sixers owned a 43-23 cushion. Philadelphia then led 60-38 at halftime. Iverson led all scorers with 24 points at the intermission.

"Allen is one tough hombre," Sixers head coach Jim O’Brien said.

Detroit opened the second half on a big run and trimmed the lead to 66-55 on a Wallace three with 7 1/2 minutes to go in the third quarter. Philadelphia countered with a run of its own and pushed the mark to 80-58 on an Iverson dunk. The 76ers then had a comfortable 84-60 lead after 36 minutes.

The fourth quarter wasn’t very interesting, and the Sixers cruised to the lopsided victory. With the win, the 76ers halted a five-game losing streak to the Pistons.

On Tuesday, the NBA came down on Iverson by fining the Georgetown product $10,000 for verbal abuse of a game official. The incident occurred with referee Marc Davis in Saturday’s loss to Chicago. Iverson was disturbed by an apparent comment Davis made towards him, as the star was vehemently upset about calls and challenged Davis after the game. The 29-year-old Iverson then had to be restrained by teammates moments after the confrontation and later was seen heading towards the referees’ dressing room before Sixers general manager Billy King stepped in and calmed his star player down.

Former Sixer Darryl Dawkins was in the crowd...Iverson was 15-of-26 from the field...Samuel Dalembert posted 11 points and seven rebounds for the 76ers...Carlos Arroyo had 11 points and Ben Wallace contributed 10 for the Pistons...Detroit shot just 38 percent for the game, while the 76ers made 54 percent of their shots...Billups buried 3-of-4 three-pointers...Iguodala became the first rookie to post a triple-double since Chicago’s Kirk Hinrich turned the trick on February 28, 2004...Detroit had a 38-37 rebounding edge.

Post your comment:

No profanity or inaproppriate remarks. All i.p. addresses will be saved and abuse/hate posts will be reported to providers and authorities as part of the anti-spam act of 2003, thank you for posting comments on the articles only.