The Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Chicago Bulls for the first time in over four years, ending a 16-game series losing streak with a 106-96 victory behind 31 points from Allen Iverson.
The 76ers had not beaten the Bulls since December 8th, 1993, a span that included seven home games. They have had three coaching changes and four 50-loss seasons since that victory, while the Bulls have averaged 63 wins and have won the last two NBA titles.
Derrick Coleman scored 10 of his 18 points in the third quarter, when the Sixers took control. Iverson, who finished two points shy of his season high, added nine in the final period, when the Sixers fought off a rally by the Bulls and opened a 19-point lead. Philadelphia has won four of its last six.
"This game will give us a little bit more confidence," Iverson said. "It gives us confidence because if we can beat the world champions, there shouldn't be any reason why we shouldn't feel we can beat every team we play against. Some nights we're going to have off nights shooting the ball but if we play defense, we'll be in every game."
Scottie Pippen scored 22 points -- two in the second half -- and Michael Jordan added 20 for the Bulls, who were coming off a convincing home win over Seattle and lost for the first time in three games since Pippen's return. Chicago dropped to 7-11 on the road.
"When you go on the road, you got to take care of the ball, especially against teams that are trying to make a name for themselves," Jordan said. "I, myself, made a lot of mistakes out there and I certainly can take the blame for this one."
Playing in front of a record crowd of 21,104 at the CoreStates Center, the Sixers overcame Pippen's 20 first-half points for a 52-51 lead. Iverson scored 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
A layup by Randy Brown pulled the Bulls within 64-61 with 6:18 left in the third quarter before the 76ers went on a 13-3 run. Rookie Tim Thomas had a three-pointer and Coleman had a jumper and layup before a jumper by Clarence Weatherspoon made it 77-64 with 51 seconds to go.
Chicago trailed 79-67 entering the fourth quarter but scored the first nine points. Steve Kerr made an 18-footer, Ron Harper sank a three-pointer and Scott Burrell dunked before Harper made two foul shots, cutting the deficit to 79-76 with 10:03 left.
Less than a minute later, Kerr suffered a broken collarbone when Coleman, trying to block his shot, fell on him as he drove to the basket.
Coleman dunked to trigger a 12-2 burst. Weatherspoon twice made a pair from the line before a jumper by Pippen -- his only points of the second half -- cut the deficit to 85-78 with 7:12 remaining. Weatherspoon made two more free throws and Iverson had a driving layup and two foul shots to rebuild the advantage to 91-78 with 5:50 left.
"We didn't take care of the basketball in the fourth," Jordan said. "Little stupid mistakes cost us the game. We're a better basketball team than that. You have to say a game like this is a learning experience for us. We didn't take care of the ball, especially when we got it down to within three."
"What stood out is when they scored nine straight to start the fourth quarter, we just dug in," Sixers coach Larry Brown said. "Early on (in the season), we tried to win as individuals. Tonight it seemed, when they made a run at us, we continued to be a team and played the right way."
Jason Caffey made two free throws, but Philadelphia rattled off six straight points, including a drive by Iverson that made it 97-80 with 4:15 to play. A dunk by Jimmy Jackson gave the 76ers their largest lead at 106-87 with 1:56 left.
Jordan and Pippen were limited to a combined 4-of-17 from the field in the second half. Pippen was just 1-of-6 as Thomas did a credible job on the perennial All-Star.
"The second half we had to play a perimeter offense," Pippen said. "We settled for that instead of being smarter and trying to go inside. My conditioning is not at the point to where I should settle for outside jump shots."
Weatherspoon scored eight of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and Jackson added 14 for the Sixers, who shot 46 percent (35-of-76) from the field and made 32-of-44 free throws. Thomas and Theo Ratliff added 12 points apiece and Coleman grabbed 10 rebounds.
Before we had Theo and before Derrick's presence, we weren't a good defensive team, so we couldn't withstand runs by other teams and that was because we couldn't get any stops," Coleman said. "Now, we can get stops. That's made us a better team."
"We can't say, 'This is a great thing because we beat the Bulls,'" Ratliff said. "We've got another game coming up and we have to play just as well against those guys. We're not going to go all out and celebrate or have a party or things of that nature just because we beat the Bulls."
Dennis Rodman grabbed 20 rebounds for the Bulls, who also shot 46 percent (38-of-83) and held a 51-39 rebounding edge. But Chicago committed 29 fouls and 21 turnovers.
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