Pistons Can’t Keep Pace With 76ers

The very thought of Allen Iverson having a breakout game scared Larry Brown, and Iverson’s former coach had reason to worry.

Iverson played one of the most efficient playoff games of his nine-year career Friday night, scoring 37 points and handing out five of his 15 assists in the fourth quarter to lead the Philadelphia 76ers past the Detroit Pistons, 115-104.

The 76ers defeated the defending champions for the first time in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference series, cutting Detroit’s lead to 2-1. Game 4 is Sunday.

Iverson led the way as Philadelphia overcame an early 13-point deficit and then played its best ball in the fourth quarter, keeping the Pistons from getting much offense from anyone other than their starters.

Detroit center Ben Wallace scored a career-high 29 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, and Richard Hamilton added 24 points, but the Pistons got only two points from their reserves to offset a 50.7% shooting effort.

Despite that accuracy, the Pistons couldn’t find a way to stop Iverson after holding him to 35% shooting in the first two games. He finished 15 for 26 from the field.

Chauncey Billups started as the primary defender on Iverson, and Hamilton took over the job later in the game. But even when the Pistons managed to get the ball out of Iverson’s hands, he was able to find open teammates who were able to make shots.

Chris Webber scored nine of his 19 points in the fourth quarter. Rodney Rogers added 15 points, Samuel Dalembert had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Andre Iguodala had 13 points and seven steals for Philadelphia, which shot 55.1%.

The game was Brown’s first postseason appearance in the building where he coached Iverson for six seasons and took the 76ers to the NBA Finals in 2001.

Philadelphia fell behind by 13 points early in the second quarter, but Detroit’s offense struggled when the starters were not on the floor as the 76ers cut their deficit to 54-51.

The Pistons stayed ahead until Rogers made a jump shot with 3:41 left in the third quarter to tie the score at 72-72, and Rogers made two three-point field goals in the final minute of the quarter to help the 76ers take an 80-78 lead into the fourth.