Dikembe Mutombo wouldn't let his former teammates get their way.
Mutombo had 13 points, 13 rebounds and nine blocked shots and Allen Iverson scored 47 points as the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Atlanta Hawks 108-103 Friday night.
The Hawks have lost 10 straight, including nine since trading Mutombo to Philadelphia in a five-player deal on Feb. 22.
"I kept running into them and they kept telling me they were going to dunk on me," said Mutombo, who is living at the same hotel that Atlanta stayed at in downtown Philadelphia. "I kept telling them during the course of the game, 'Why are you even trying?"
Jason Terry had 25 points and Nazr Mohammed, who was sent to Atlanta along with Theo Ratliff, Toni Kukoc and Pepe Sanchez for Mutombo, scored a career-high 18. Kukoc and DerMarr Johnson each had 12.
Eric Snow had 12 points and 13 assists, Tyrone Hill had 12 points and nine rebounds and George Lynch had eight points and 12 rebounds for Philadelphia, which improved the NBA's best record to 46-16.
"It felt funny playing against guys you played with all year," Iverson said. "You look left, you look right and there are guys that were always right there in the foxhole with you, who felt bad when you felt bad. It was tough."
Iverson, who scored 40 or more points for the 16th time this season, had 17 in the first quarter and 16 in the third. He made eight straight shots in one stretch and finished 16-of-30.
The Sixers led by as many as 17 late in the third, but Atlanta closed within 93-89 with an 11-0 run in the fourth. Terry had seven of the 11 points, including the last five.
Mutombo ended a scoreless drought of 3:17 with a slam, but the Hawks scored six straight after a jumper by Snow to cut it to 101-99 with 1:11 left.
After Mohammed's layup made it 103-101, Snow put it away with a 15-footer that gave the Sixers a 105-101 lead with a 31 seconds left.
"We fought like crazy to get back into it," Atlanta coach Lon Kruger said. "We are disappointed by not quite finishing. It was a great effort down the stretch, but not quite enough."
Mutombo recorded his fifth straight double-double and sixth in seven games with the Sixers. He had five blocks in the third quarter and got a key rebound late in the game when the Hawks had a chance to tie.
"If (Mutombo) does every night what he did tonight, we'll be very satisfied," Sixers coach Larry Brown said.
Atlanta took its first lead since the opening minutes, 48-46, on a jumper by Mohammed with 3:28 left in the second quarter.
Iverson's jumper and driving layup capped a 9-4 run, giving the Sixers a 55-52 lead at halftime.
After the Hawks cut it to 65-59 midway through the third, Iverson drilled a 3-pointer, assisted on a layup by Snow and hit another 3-pointer to give Philadelphia a 73-64 lead.
"That's a dream, best team in the league, a team that you played for in their house," Mohammed said about his performance. "You couldn't write it up any better."
Notes
The Sixers are 19-14 overall, including 12-4 this season, when Iverson scores 40 points or more.
Philadelphia center Matt Geiger missed his second straight game with swelling in the right knee. Geiger has played just 17 games due to injuries.
Kukoc, a starter since going to Atlanta, was booed throughout the night.
Hawks center Lorenzen Wright left the game with a sprained right thumb in the second quarter and did not return.
Philadelphia is 24-2 when it scores 100 points or more.
