NBA Game Summary - Detroit at Philadelphia

Philadelphia, PA (Basketball News) - Allen Iverson scored 37 points with 15 assists, and the Philadelphia 76ers used a solid second half to beat the Detroit Pistons, 115-104, in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.

Chris Webber added 19 points and Samuel Dalembert scored 14 with 10 rebounds for the Sixers, who will look to tie this best-of-seven series at two games apiece when the teams meet for Game 4 on Sunday.

Philadelphia shot 55 percent from the floor, went 11-of-20 on three-pointers, and its bench outscored Detroit’s 23-2 — an improvement from Games 1 and 2 when the Pistons’ reserves scored a combined 41 points.

"It was important not to come in and think the crowd was going to win the game for us," Iverson said. "We just needed to play basketball...the crowd had a lot to do with it, but we just left everything on the floor."

Ben Wallace scored a career-high 29 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to pace the Pistons, who easily won Games 1 and 2 at home.

Richard Hamilton added 24 points and 12 assists in the loss. Tayshaun Prince scored 19 points, but had just four in the second half.

After trailing by as many as 13 points in the first half, Philadelphia was down by eight early in the third quarter.

But the Sixers put together some good possessions late in the third, and they grabbed their first lead since 20-19 when Iverson’s basket made it 74-72 with 3:09 to play in the period.

Reserve Rodney Rogers scored eight of his 15 points in the final 3:37 of the third, including six straight on consecutive three-pointers, that gave Philadelphia an 80-76 lead.

"Rodney gave us a big boost," Sixers head coach Jim O’Brien said. "We needed every positive thing we did to beat them."

Philly led throughout the fourth quarter. Detroit was still within striking distance when two Prince free throws made it 106-100 with 1:48 remaining, but Iverson drilled a three-pointer at the other end to make it a nine-point game.

The Pistons were never closer than six points after that. They shot 51 percent in the game and went 9-of-22 on three-pointers.

Detroit made six of its nine three-pointers in the first quarter and shot nearly 65 percent in the period for a 32-24 lead at the horn. The key to Detroit’s good first quarter was a 10-0 run, which turned a 20-19 deficit into a 29-20 advantage.

After falling behind by as many as 13 points in the second quarter, the Sixers trailed just 54-51 at halftime — thanks, in part, to a 7-0 spurt that got them within 46-44.