Brown-bagged: 76ers beat former coach

Philadelphia, PA (Basketball News) - Allen Iverson scored 30 points and handed out seven assists to lead Philadelphia over Detroit, 90-86, in the much awaited return of Larry Brown to the Wachovia Center.

Brown was the head coach of the Sixers for six seasons before resigning after the 2002-03 campaign. The Hall-of-Famer then accepted the Detroit position one week after announcing he was leaving Philadelphia.

Kenny Thomas added 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Sixers, who stopped a two-game slide. Eric Snow tallied 13 points and eight helpers, as the game was also a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference semifinals. The Pistons eliminated Philadelphia in six games before falling to New Jersey in the following round.

Richard Hamilton collected 19 points and six assists for the Pistons, who lost for just the second time in their last seven outings.

The Sixers, who blew a 15-point lead, got down by as many as five in the second half. But with just 5:09 to play, Iverson drained a contested jumper to give the Sixers an 80-78 edge and they led the rest of the way.

John Salmons then nailed a huge jumper from the left wing with a hand in his face to give Philadelphia a commanding 88-83 margin with just 24.1 seconds left.

The Pistons came right back down the floor, but Lindsey Hunter missed a three- pointer with 14.4 seconds left to help seal the victory for the Sixers.

The Sixers shot 48 percent from the floor, but were powered to victory by forcing 20 Detroit turnovers.

After a tight opening frame in which the Sixers won 25-24, Philly pulled away in the second frame with an 11-2 burst to go in front, 43-33.

But the Pistons would eventually end the half with seven unanswered points to trim the Sixer margin to 56-48 at the intermission. Tayshaun Prince capped off the run with a triple in the final second. During the Detroit spurt, Iverson was called for an offensive foul and then a palming violation.

The Pistons also closed out the third stanza strong, despite an 18-footer by Snow at the horn. However, right before that, Detroit scored 10 straight points to take a 71-69 lead into the final 12 minutes.