Iguodala leads Sixers past Hornets

Andre Miller scored 14 points for the 76ers, who have won four of their last six games. Joe Smith recorded a double-double with 12 points and 12 boards while Steven Hunter accomplished the same by netting 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

Philadelphia shot 40 percent from the field in the game.

"I thought our defense was top notch," Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said. "I thought our two bigs inside the middle controlled the paint extremely well. The defense was great, I thought our defensive rebounding was real stiff."

Devin Brown poured in 17 points off the bench for the Hornets, who had a three-game winning streak halted. Tyson Chandler had 10 points with 15 rebounds and Desmond Mason, David West and Rasual Butler each contributed 10 points in defeat.

"We didn’t come ready to play tonight," West said. "They kind of got set with what they wanted to do and they set the tone for the game. They outhustled us tonight. We had no energy."

Last year’s Rookie of the Year Chris Paul returned for New Orleans after missing 17 games with a sprained right ankle. Paul ended with nine points and two assists in just over 29 minutes of action.

The game stayed close in the first quarter with each team posting 18 points, but Philadelphia pulled away with a 21-6 spurt in the final 7:19 of the second to lead 45-34 at the half.

The Sixers continued to control the game in the third and went up by 20 after Iguodala’s jumper with 4:46 remaining. At the end of the period, Iguodala hit a pair of free throws to make it a 71-57 affair.

The Hornets cut to within eight on Hilton Armstrong’s putback early in the fourth, however, Philadelphia came right back with a 12-2 run to ice the game.

Game Notes

Iguodala finished 8-of-16 shooting...Kyle Korver added 10 points for the Sixers...New Orleans shot 39 percent from the floor...Philadelphia has won three of their last four meetings with the Hornets and six of the last nine.