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Iguodala, 76ers down Heat in overtime

Jan 20, 2007 - 4:58 AM PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- The Philadelphia 76ers have been getting schooled a lot lately, but the learning paid off against the defending champion Miami Heat.

Iguodala scored 16 points and scored a huge basket in overtime as the 76ers edged the Heat, 98-95, to snap a three-game losing streak.

The 76ers, the last-place club in the Eastern Conference, improved to 3-7 in their last 10 games.

"It is a young team and I think when you win a game like that, having to go into overtime in the circumstances that we did, I think that it can be huge for us," Philadelphia coach Maurice Cheeks said. "We have to learn from the things that we did tonight."

"Give the Sixers all the credit in the world," Miami interim coach Ron Rothstein said. "But we have to be upset that we put ourselves in that type of situation."

Miami put the game into overtime after Andre Miller fouled Dwyane Wade on a 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left, when he brushed the shooter's elbow during the shot. Wade missed his first attempt but calmly made the next two to tie it at 89-89. The game went into overtime after Green missed a desperation shot at the buzzer.

Philadelphia trailed, 91-90, when Iguodala stole the ball and went in for a slam dunk with 1:59 left in the extra session.

"We still had the confidence that we could win the game," Iguodala said. "We executed in the time that we needed to."

From there, Willie Green and Kyle Korver sank two free throws each to help the Sixers push their advantage to 96-91 with 25.1 seconds remaining.

"That's the situation that you want to be in," Green said. "I just wanted to make sure that I concentrated and I was glad that I had another opportunity to go up to the line and make the foul shots. It is just mental getting up there and knowing that you can make it."

Korver, who scored a season-high 30 points in a 118-102 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, finished with 13 points.

Green and Miller also scored 16 points for the 76ers.

Wade paced Miami with 28 points. Wade, who was held to four points in the first half, finished 10-of-26 from the field and 7-of-9 from the line.

"I couldn't hit the shots that I normally hit," Wade said. "It was one of those nights. I had a bad shooting night tonight. I pride myself on making those, but I didn't come through the way I wanted to come through."

Wade, who missed four game with a wrist injury, is averaging 30.3 points per game in the seven games since returning from the injury.

Antoine Walker, who was 5-of-10 from the arc, scored 19 points for the Heat, who fell to 5-2 in their last seven games.

The 76ers dominated the first half, taking a 14-point lead into the break. Philadelphia shot 57 percent (21-of-37) from the field while Miami had trouble, only connecting on 38 percent (15-of-40).

"We came out flat early, defensively we were bad, but we played solid the rest of the way," Wade said. "We are going to continue to keep that positive mindset. We know why we lost and we need to move on."