Philadelphia 76ers Team Report - April 4

(Basketball News) - Philadelphia came up with a big 97-93 win over the arch- rival Boston Celtics at the FleetCenter on Sunday afternoon.

The Sixers sliced Boston’s lead in the Atlantic Division to just three games with nine games to play. Philadelphia and Boston will meet one more time on April 12 at the Wachovia Center.

Philadelphia remains eighth in the Eastern Conference playoff race, 2 1/2 contests behind Cleveland and Indiana for sixth place. The Sixers are holding on to a tenuous one-game lead over ninth place Orlando as well. Philadelphia has one meeting with Cleveland and Indiana remaining on the slate.

Allen Iverson’s jumper with 22.7 seconds remaining sealed the victory for the Sixers on Sunday. Iverson finished with a game-high 38 points, nine assists and six steals for the 76ers, who ended a three-game losing streak.

Samuel Dalembert had 18 points and 15 boards in the win — Philadelphia’s third versus Boston this season (3-0). Rodney Rogers and Andre Iguodala tacked on 10 points apiece in the victory.

The Sixers stormed out to a 15-5 lead and later extended their advantage to 29-10 on an Iverson three-pointer with two minutes left in the first quarter. Philadelphia then carried a 38-13 lead into the second quarter. It was the largest deficit after one quarter in Celtics history. Boston fought back for the next three quarters, getting as close as three points in the final minutes.

Sixers head coach Jim O’Brien is perfect against his former team since leaving Boston last season. O’Brien, who coached the Celtics for three years before resigning on January 27, 2004, has won three meetings this season against Boston.

Philadelphia remains without star forward Chris Webber (shoulder), who is expected to be out until the end of the week. Webber is averaging 15.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per contest.

Philadelphia will have the next couple of days off before hosting the expansion Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday. The Sixers will remain at home against Cleveland on Friday before heading to Washington D.C. to face the Wizards on Saturday.