PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The Philadelphia 76ers may have been playing the Portland Trail Blazers, but their minds were still on the Sacramento Kings."We had a nine-game winning streak and we lost it (against the Kings)," Allen Iverson said. "We wanted to get back on track."
Iverson put the Sixers back on track with 36 points in Philadelphia's 88-60 victory over the Trail Blazers Thursday night.
The Sixers led by as many as 32 points as they snapped a three-game losing streak to Portland.
Philadelphia was without forward Kenny Thomas, who sprained his right ankle early in a 107-99 loss to Sacramento on Monday. Starting in his place was Tyrone Hill, who signed with the 76ers just prior to the game against the Kings.
The loss to Sacramento had snapped a nine-game Philadelphia winning streak. "I don't consider this a big win. It's just a win," Iverson said. "This part of the season, all you want to do is win."
During the game, the 76ers lost coach Larry Brown, who fell ill and said he probably picked up a bug from his daughter.
"They just said I had some kind of virus or whatever," said Brown, who missed the fourth quarter. "I am OK, I just got really hot."
The Trail Blazers, who had their lowest scoring performance of the season, were coming off a 98-92 loss Wednesday night at Phoenix, but had won their four previous games.
"We were just a step too slow tonight," Scottie Pippen said. "Basically, we couldn't get a shot to go."
Iverson was the Blazers' downfall on Thursday night. After Iverson's 20-foot jumper put the Sixers up 65-49 with 7:40 to go, the All-Star guard skipped in victory and high-fived a teammate.
Portland, meanwhile, struggled with its shooting all night.
After Rasheed Wallace pulled the Blazers within 45-44 with 6:47 left in the third quarter, Portland did not score for the rest of the period, missing 10 straight attempts from the floor. For the game, the Blazers shot just 36.1 percent.
Wallace led the Blazers with 17 points and nine rebounds.
As shot after shot missed its mark, Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks said to the fans in the stands: "I wish we could score."
"That's where the frustration came in -- when we couldn't score, and then we couldn't stop them on the other end," Cheeks said.
The Blazers led by as many as seven in the first half.
Portland took a 17-12 lead with 3:51 left in the first quarter when Derek Anderson took a long pass under the basket and deftly passed the ball to an onrushing Wallace, who scored on the slam dunk.
Iverson's high-arcing jumper put it at 32-32 with a little more than a minute to go. Iverson was fouled by Ruben Patterson in the waning seconds and made both his free throws to give Philadelphia a 34-32 lead at the half.
Iverson, who had 17 points by halftime, hit a 20-foot-jumper with 4:30 left in the third quarter to give the Sixers a 49-44 lead, and Philadelphia pulled away from there.
Iverson put the Sixers back on track with 36 points in Philadelphia's 88-60 victory over the Trail Blazers Thursday night.
The Sixers led by as many as 32 points as they snapped a three-game losing streak to Portland.
Philadelphia was without forward Kenny Thomas, who sprained his right ankle early in a 107-99 loss to Sacramento on Monday. Starting in his place was Tyrone Hill, who signed with the 76ers just prior to the game against the Kings.
The loss to Sacramento had snapped a nine-game Philadelphia winning streak. "I don't consider this a big win. It's just a win," Iverson said. "This part of the season, all you want to do is win."
During the game, the 76ers lost coach Larry Brown, who fell ill and said he probably picked up a bug from his daughter.
"They just said I had some kind of virus or whatever," said Brown, who missed the fourth quarter. "I am OK, I just got really hot."
The Trail Blazers, who had their lowest scoring performance of the season, were coming off a 98-92 loss Wednesday night at Phoenix, but had won their four previous games.
"We were just a step too slow tonight," Scottie Pippen said. "Basically, we couldn't get a shot to go."
Iverson was the Blazers' downfall on Thursday night. After Iverson's 20-foot jumper put the Sixers up 65-49 with 7:40 to go, the All-Star guard skipped in victory and high-fived a teammate.
Portland, meanwhile, struggled with its shooting all night.
After Rasheed Wallace pulled the Blazers within 45-44 with 6:47 left in the third quarter, Portland did not score for the rest of the period, missing 10 straight attempts from the floor. For the game, the Blazers shot just 36.1 percent.
Wallace led the Blazers with 17 points and nine rebounds.
As shot after shot missed its mark, Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks said to the fans in the stands: "I wish we could score."
"That's where the frustration came in -- when we couldn't score, and then we couldn't stop them on the other end," Cheeks said.
The Blazers led by as many as seven in the first half.
Portland took a 17-12 lead with 3:51 left in the first quarter when Derek Anderson took a long pass under the basket and deftly passed the ball to an onrushing Wallace, who scored on the slam dunk.
Iverson's high-arcing jumper put it at 32-32 with a little more than a minute to go. Iverson was fouled by Ruben Patterson in the waning seconds and made both his free throws to give Philadelphia a 34-32 lead at the half.
Iverson, who had 17 points by halftime, hit a 20-foot-jumper with 4:30 left in the third quarter to give the Sixers a 49-44 lead, and Philadelphia pulled away from there.