• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Iguodala, 76ers run all over Bulls

Mar 27, 2008 - 4:02 AM By Michael Luongo PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- After a big win over one of the league's best, Andre Iguodala and the Philadelphia 76ers avoided a letdown against lesser competition.

Iguodala did not wait until the fourth quarter to decide the outcome of Wednesday's game, scoring 15 first-quarter points to lead the 76ers to a 121-99 victory over the Chicago Bulls.

In Monday night's win at Boston, Iguodala scored 13 of his game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter as Philadelphia went on a 19-0 run to record a 95-90 victory. On this night, he settled the issue early.

Iguodala opened the quarter with a 3-pointer which ignited a 7-2 run. A three-point play by Willie Green capped the spurt and gave the Sixers a 9-2 lead.

Later, Iguodala hit his second three of the quarter then followed that with a slam dunk to push the lead to 14-4.

Iguodala finished the quarter hitting 1-of-2 from the free-throw line to give the Sixers a 34-19 lead after the first.

"We wanted to get out on the break," Iguodala said. "What we wanted to do was get back in transition on them, get stops and just run out. We did a lot of that tonight and we were successful."

Philadelphia opened up a 17-point lead early in the second on a pair of Jason Smith free throws. After Chicago pulled within nine, the Sixers went on an 11-0 run.

Iguodala capped the surge with a pair of dunks to give Philadelphia a 20-point lead, 59-39, with 2:01 to go in the half. Rookie Thaddeus Young's layup with 32 seconds left gave the Sixers a 22-point lead and they took a 65-49 lead at the half.

Chicago closed the gap in the third, pulling within eight when Ben Gordon hit three from the line to make it 77-69 with 3:49 to play. Philadelphia answered with a 13-6 run to give the Sixers a 91-77 advantage entering the fourth.

"Our transition defense was not that good," Bulls interim coach Jim Boylan said. "It looked like we were stuck in the mud. We did not react very well to their push back at us, and we gave them a lot of opportunities."

In that run, the Sixers got threes from Rodney Carney and Louis Williams, who scored five of the first seven Sixers' points in the fourth quarter. His three with 10:16 to go in the game pushed Philadelphia's lead to 100-80, and Chicago was done.

Carney's final three of the night put an exclamation point on the game as it gave the Sixers a 26-point lead with 2:55 to play.

"One of the great things about this team is that we don't care who is scoring the points," Williams said. "The best thing that we can do is be unselfish right now and it shows. We're just grateful for what we bring off the bench"

"Everybody is playing with confidence and like I've said, it's scary," Iguodala said. "Everybody is playing in the flow of the game and understanding their role and is comfortable. We're all playing on the same page, too."

Williams made five 3-pointers and finished with 23 points for the Sixers.

"That's been my job this year to bring a spark off the bench," Williams said. "When the young guys come off the bench the job is to maintain the lead or push it up. That is my focus when I come into the basketball game."

Iguodala scored 21 points and Young added 20 for Philadelphia, which improved to 11-2 in March and posted its first 11-win month since March 2003.