76ers Are Making Their Move in the East

The Philadelphia 76ers moved within four games of New Jersey and Indiana for the No. 1 seed in the East with their eighth consecutive victory, 104-83 over the Utah Jazz Friday night in Philadelphia.

“We’re playing better. We’re trying to play the right way,” 76er Coach Larry Brown said. “I’m hopeful we can build on that.”

Allen Iverson scored 24 points and Derrick Coleman added 16 for the 76ers, who begin a five-game road trip against the Western Division at Denver Sunday night.

Keith Van Horn had 10 points and 12 rebounds and Eric Snow added 12 points and 11 assists for the 76ers, who avenged a 29-point loss to the Jazz on Dec. 28.

Utah has lost three in a row but remained one game ahead of the Lakers in the sixth playoff spot in the West.

Indiana 107, Milwaukee 98 -- The win at Indianapolis allowed the Pacers, who ended a six-game losing streak, to move back into first place by a 1/2 game over Detroit in the Central Division.

The Pacers (38-21) are tied with New Jersey for the best record in the East, although the Nets have two wins over them. The Bucks fell behind Washington for the final playoff spot in the East.

Minnesota 118, Cleveland 95 -- The Timberwolves shot a season-high 57% and tied a franchise low with four turnovers as they extended their home winning streak to 16 games and finished February an NBA-best 12-1.

Wally Szczerbiak scored 25 points and Kevin Garnett had 20 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for the Timberwolves, who won their sixth straight.

The Cavaliers, meanwhile, fell to 3-27 on the road. Cleveland, which beat New Jersey on Tuesday, has not won consecutive games this season.

Boston 90, Toronto 85 -- The Celtics won at Boston despite playing without Paul Pierce for the first time in three years.

Toronto, which has lost three of four after a four-game winning streak, fell to 6-21 on the road.

Pierce, who had played in 257 consecutive games -- the third-longest streak among active players -- sat out because of a strained lower back he suffered while slipping on ice over the weekend. The last game he missed was on Jan. 26, 2000 at Orlando because of a hamstring pull.

Memphis 126, Miami 116 -- The Grizzlies won in overtime after squandering a 16-point fourth-quarter lead at Memphis.

Memphis didn’t make a basket in the final 6:34 of regulation, but Jason Williams scored five points early in overtime and the Grizzlies never trailed the rest of the way.

Miami lost its sixth in a rowon the road.

Atlanta 110, Chicago 88 -- The Hawks ended a three-game losing streak with a rare road victory -- they are 6-24 away from home this season.

Jason Terry had 23 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds for his first career triple-double for Atlanta.

New Orleans 94, Denver 88 -- At Denver, the Hornets extended their winning streak to five games and sent the Nuggets to their 11th consecutive loss.

Denver made only eight of 23 shots in the fourth quarter.