Pierce leads Celtics past 76ers

Pierce finished with 31 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for the Celtics, who have won two straight and five of their last seven games overall. Ryan Gomes added 29 points and 11 rebounds while Wally Szczerbiak finished with 12 points.

Allen Iverson netted 32 points on 10-of-31 shooting from the floor for Philadelphia, which has dropped its last two games. Chris Webber added 18 and seven rebounds in the loss.

Iverson hit a jumper in the lane with 1:34 left for a 99-94 Philadelphia advantage. Pierce answered at the other end with a long three-pointer off the right wing to make it 99-97.

John Salmons then missed a 15-foot jumper for the Sixers and Szczerbiak ripped down the rebound with about 45 seconds remaining. Pierce then was left wide open at the top of the key and with 27.4 seconds left, he drained a trey that pushed Boston ahead 100-99.

After a timeout, Iverson controlled the ball and penetrated into the lane and pulled up for a jumper off the right block and it fell short as Pierce grabbed control with about 20 seconds left.

Pierce then went 2-for-2 from the charity stripe for a 102-99 advantage. After a Philadelphia timeout, Andre Iguodala attempted a three-pointer from the right corner that missed long with less than 15 seconds to go.

Boston sealed it with free throws down the stretch.

The Sixers closed out the first half with a 14-2 run to take a 50-44 lead into halftime. Webber donated six points during the spurt while the Sixers held Boston to only 13 points in the second quarter.

Webber had 12 points while Iverson scored 11 on 4-of-14 shooting from the field in the first half.

Boston outscored the Sixers 26-21 in the third quarter, but trailed 71-70.

Game Notes

Boston improved to 18-13 at home this season...The Celtics have defeated the Sixers in four of their last six games in Boston...The 76ers are 5-3 since the All-Star break...Philadelphia dropped to 11-18 as the visitor this season...Both teams committed 15 turnovers.