NBA Game Summary - New Jersey at Philadelphia

Philadelphia, PA (Basketball News) - Andre Iguodala scored a career-high 27 points and dished out eight assists, as Philadelphia won a battle of the benches, 91-88, over New Jersey at the Wachovia Center.

The contest lacked star power, as Sixers guard Allen Iverson and forward Chris Webber did not play or even sit on the bench in street clothes. Iguodala picked up his game in their absence, and Willie Green scored 14 points in the victory.

Steven Hunter tallied 10 points and pulled down seven rebounds, as the Sixers snapped a two-game skid. Philadelphia dominated in the paint, outscoring New Jersey 44-18 underneath the rim.

Vince Carter played into the third quarter, scoring 16 points and dishing out five assists. Carter’s field goal late in the third period pushed him past Bernard King for the club single-season points record. King totaled 1,909 points during the 1977-78 season, while Carter reached 1,911 points on the basket. He then exited the game and did not return.

While Carter shined, both Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson did not play, electing to rest up for the playoffs.

Lamond Murray led the Nets with 19 points, while Clifford Robinson donated 14 points, as the club saw its two-game winning streak come to an end.

New Jersey is firmly entrenched in the third playoff spot for the upcoming Eastern Conference playoffs.

Philadelphia tallied the final eight points of the third period to take a two- point lead. Iguodala scored the first three points, Kyle Korver drained a trey and Shavlik Randolph’s dunk gave the Sixers a 67-65 lead with 23 seconds on the clock.

The momentum continued to the fourth quarter, as the Sixers reeled off eight of nine points to take an 80-73 lead. Iguodala slammed home a perfect lob pass from Matt Barnes and Green drained a three to cap the spurt with 6:01 left.

Two free throws by Green gave Philadelphia an 85-75 lead with 4:41 remaining.

Trailing 87-78, New Jersey connected on six straight free throws, the last two coming from Murray, to cut the deficit to three with 2:05 remaining.

Iguodala buried a jumper to create some breathing room with 1:51 left, and both Zoran Planinic and Bostjan Nachbar missed jumpers in the next minute.

Planinic converted a layup to make the score 89-86 with 33 seconds left then New Jersey forced a John Salmons’ air ball on the other end.

Murray missed a three, but Nachbar grabbed the offensive rebound and converted the layup to cut the deficit to one with 3.1 ticks to play.

The Nets fouled Iguodala, who drained both free throws to again make it a three-point lead.

Planinic missed a game-tying trey as time expired to give Philadelphia the victory.

With Webber and Iverson not even on the bench, the Sixers came out flat in their final home game of the season.

The Nets ended the first stanza with a 19-8 scoring stretch to hold a 29-14 edge. Murray drained a free throw to make the score 15-6 and later buried another long-distance jumper to increase the lead to 29-12 with 21 ticks left.

New Jersey was the team that displayed offensive futility in the second stanza, as the collection of bench players continued to make establishing a rhythm difficult.

The Sixers closed the half on an 8-1 run to pull within 43-37. Iguodala’s three-point play with 20 seconds remaining capped the first-half scoring.