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76ers end Knicks' streak behind Iguodala, Miller

Jan 25, 2009 - 5:20 AM PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Andre Iguodala scored 24 points and Andre Miller added 21 to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 116-110 victory over the New York Knicks on Saturday.

Iguodala added seven rebounds and six assists for the 76ers, who were playing for the first time since having their seven-game win streak snapped with a 95-93 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Monday.

Philadelphia also welcomed back forward Elton Brand, who had been out with a dislocated right shoulder since December 17.

Signed as a free agent in the offseason to provide Philadelphia with a dominant inside presence, Brand was averaging 15.9 points and 9.8 rebounds at the time of his injury.

Brand scored six points on 3-of-4 shooting in a little over 13 minutes.

"I played almost 13 minutes and took three or four shots and it came within the flow of the offense," Brand said. "We need to just play like the way we've been playing and that is how we are going to win."

Nate Robinson and Tim Thomas both had big games off the bench for New York, which had its three-game winning streak snapped. Robinson scored 26 points and Thomas added 24.

"We got down early and we did a great of coming back but it may have been too much to overcome," Thomas said. "We were right there . We lost the game in the last couple of minutes. They made shots towards the end and they made plays towards the end. You have to tip your hat to them."

Thaddeus Young scored 17 points, Willie Green had 14 and Samuel Dalembert added 10 points and 17 rebounds for Philadelphia, which has won three straight and 12 of 14 over New York.

"It was a hard fought game. They shot the ball well the first half," Philadelphia coach Tony DiLeo said. "We made some adjustments at half with pick and roll defense and we did a couple of different things in the second half and I think that helped us. I told the team it was a great win, not a good win but a great win.

"The Knicks are playing much better and they really shoot it. You cannot stop them from making three's but you just try to make it difficult and try to contest each shot."

The 76ers went 9-7 with Brand out and seemed to hit their stride when they ripped off seven straight wins, including triumphs over Houston, Atlanta, Portland and San Antonio.

The win was their eighth in nine games and moved the 76ers back to .500 at 21-21.

"The Knicks are not a bad team at all. Their last three wins showed that they can play at a higher level and they have been playing pretty good basketball lately," Iguodala said. "Tonight was a good win for us we took their best shot and we were still right there. We knew that we just had to play at our pace and make some minor adjustments. and the fourth quarter was big for us."

David Lee had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks, who were aiming for their first four-game win streak of the season.

Thomas hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key off a feed from Lee to make it 108-106 with 2:13 left. Philadelphia responded with drive by Young and an ally-oop dunk by Dalembert off a feed from Iguodala that gave the 76ers a 112-106 lead with 1:03 remaining.

Robinson brought the Knicks back within 112-110 with a reverse layup but Miller and Willie Green each hit two free throws to close out the win.

"I thought that we played enough to win," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We made some crucial mistakes we turned to over when we didn't need to but overall it was Iguodala down the stretch that was the key. We just didn't have any answers for him.

"We didn't get the big stops down the stretch. We made a number of crucial errors on defense where we fouled them or we didn't get back and they took advantage of it. When they made they mistakes, we take advantage of those mistakes."