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Iguodala, 76ers cruise past Kings

Mar 23, 2009 - 5:04 AM SACRAMENTO, California (AP) -- Andre Iguodala was not about to take the lowly Kings for granted.

Iguodala made his first 10 shots and scored 27 points, and the Philadelphia 76ers never trailed in beating Sacramento 112-100 Sunday night to end a two-game skid.

Thaddeus Young scored 22 points for the 76ers, who shot nearly 60 percent and never let their lead fall below double digits after taking a 17-5 lead midway through the first quarter. Louis Williams scored 18 points, Marreese Speights had 15 points and Willie Green added 10 for Philadelphia.

After hitting all seven shots in the opening half, Iguodala finished two alleyoop dunks and made an outside shot early in the third quarter to build a 29-point lead. He made 10 of 14 shots overall.

"The biggest thing is I wasn't really trying to score, I wasn't trying to force anything," said Iguodala, who had seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. "It can happen like that . I was just playing in the flow."

The win gave Philadelphia (35-33) a 1 game lead over seventh place Detroit in the Eastern Conference playoff. The 76ers trail fifth place Miami by 1 games.

The 76ers led 35-17 after one period, took a 26-point lead into halftime, and stretched the lead to 29 points in the third, before allowing the Kings to mount a comeback that never put the win in danger.

"Our defense really set up our offense, we were able to get out on the break, execute, and got some very good shots," 76ers coach Tony DiLeo said. "Offensively we were efficient, but it was our defense that set up the offense."

Francisco Garcia made six 3-pointers and scored 24 points for the Kings, who outscored the 76ers 26-17 in the fourth quarter but couldn't get closer than 11. Spencer Hawes had 17 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists to narrowly miss first career triple double. Kevin Martin scored 16 and Jason Thompson had 12 points and 13 rebounds.

"From the jump ball we did not show up," Kings coach Kenny Natt said. "We decided to come here (and play poorly) tonight, that's basically what we did."

Philadelphia entered hoping to salvage a five-game road trip that began with Iguodala beating the Lakers with a 3-pointer in the closing seconds. The 76ers lost the next two games to Phoenix and Golden State, and conclude the trip Monday night in Portland.

The Kings, who beat New York on Friday by 27 points, finished the season 1-29 against the Eastern Conference. The Clippers had the previous worst interconference record at 1-21 in 1986-87.

"I don't think because we finally won a game against the East that we got comfortable," Thompson said of the win over New York. "I just don't think we had that same edge and energy that we had on the road."

Leading by 18 points heading into the second quarter, the 76ers used their reserves to built on the lead. Speights scored 12 points in the period, Rush had eight and Williams added seven points for the 76ers, who led 69-43 after playing an efficient first half.

Philadelphia's reserves had 45 points and shot 16-of-26. The bench scored 31 of the 76ers' 34 points in the second quarter.

"It's one of those things we stress, the second group coming in with energy and trying to buld on the lead," Williams said. "It's something we have really taken pride in all season."

Iguodala made six shots in the first period, which included two 3-pointers and a spectacular dunk on the break. He scored 17 points to help Philadelphia take a 35-17 first quarter lead.

Despite playing only four minutes in the second quarter, Iguodala scored 20 points in the first half for the 76ers. Philadelphia shot 67 percent overall and made 7-of-9 3-pointers in the first half.