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Chris Mullin was making just his second start of the season, but it was the finish for the 36-year-old that was really sweet.

Mullin scored nine of his season-high 21 points in the fourth quarter, including a 3-pointer with 1:52 left that pushed the lead to four points, as the Pacers fought back from a 10-point deficit to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers, 92-90.

Mullin's vintage performance ended the 76ers' hopes of catching the New York Knicks for third place in the Eastern Conference, and left them just one-half game ahead of the fifth-place Charlotte Hornets, who hold the tiebreaker after winning the season series, 3-1. The 76ers (48-33) had won three straight coming into the game.

"We had a great opportunity to get home-court advantage, we controlled our own destiny and we didn't get it done," guard Eric Snow said. "We have to win our game tomorrow (in Chicago) and home. Who knows, Charlotte may give us one. If not, we'll go on the road and win."

With the Pacers (55-26) already having clinched their first Eastern Conference title, their aging starting backcourt, Reggie Miller and Mark Jackson, were given the night off. Mullin and Jalen Rose got the nod in their place. It was Rose's 28th start of the season.

"We have a lot of guys on this team who can play and play well," Indiana forward Austin Croshere said. "With two starters and big point scorers sitting out, the other guys wanted to prove that they can play as well, and we did that tonight."

The only thing Mullin has to prove is that he can still produce the way he did in his best years with Golden State. For six straight seasons, from 1987-88 to 1992-93, Mullin averaged more than 20 points a game. But injuries have slowed him considerably in recent years.

The Sixers led 78-68 after three quarters, but Mullin unleashed three 3-pointers and the Pacers' defense held Philadelphia without a basket for a 10:48 span. The Sixers missed 13 straight shots, and when Mullin hit an open 3-pointer from the left corner, Indiana led 89-85 with 1:52 to play.

Toni Kukoc drilled a 3-pointer over Mullin with 42 seconds to play, but Rose hit two free throws with 27 seconds left, putting the Pacers up 91-88.

Rose fouled Snow and the Sixers guard hit both free throws with 20 seconds left, and Philadelphia's chances seemed to improve when Travis Best hit just one of two with 18 seconds to go, leaving the Pacers ahead 92-90.

Snow drove into the paint and flipped a pass out to Kukoc, alone 12 feet from the basket, but the Croatian missed the jumper and the ball skipped out of bounds as time expired.

"Our defense was real good," Indiana coach Larry Bird said. "Down the stretch, we had trouble scoring for a while but our defense kept us in it. We made some plays."

The Sixers looked like the team with nothing at stake early in the game, but Kukoc energized them with his passing in the second quarter and Allen Iverson provided the spark in the third, when Philadelphia built a 10-point lead.

The Sixers opened the quarter with a 10-2 run, powered by George Lynch's six points, and when Theo Ratlif dunked with 8:49 to go, the Sixers were up, 56-54.

Iverson scored 10 points over the final 5:41 of the third, beginning with his layup that gave Philadelphia a 60-59 edge. Despite the sore elbow that kept him from looking for his outside shot Saturday night, Iverson hit a pair of 3-pointers as the Sixers built a 78-68 lead heading into the final 12 minutes.

The Pacers' big starting lineup helped them go on a 9-0 run to take a 29-15 lead late in the first quarter. Austin Croshere dunked back the rebound of Rik Smits' missed jumper and Smits hit a 12-footer before Mullin made back-to-back steals, nailing an open 3-pointer off the first and going in for a layup that gave the Pacers the 14-point lead with 56 seconds left.

Rose finished with 20 points and nine assists, and Smits had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers, who admitted they were looking for payback for a 111-101 loss they suffered to the Sixers at Conseco Fieldhouse on March 26.

"We have a great record in what we call `payback' games," Rose said. "It was a great win for our team."

"Chris Mullin gave us a big lift," Bird said. "Rik Smits has been about as good as I've seen him in a long time. We had a total effort from everybody. We played hard and that's good to see, especially when you really don't have much to play for."

Iverson led Philadelphia with 24 points, Lynch scored 16, Tyrone Hill grabbed 14 rebounds and Snow dished out 12 assists.

"I understand that to win a championship, you have to win on somebody else's home court anyway," Iverson said. "I always turn a negative into a positive, and the positive is that we'll have some experience with playing on the road if we do have the fifth seed."

Allen Iverson bounced back from a rare
subpar effort and scored 39 points as the Philadelphia 76ers
posted a 114-110 victory over the Indiana Pacers, who have
suffered consecutive losses for the first time in 15 months.

Iverson, who leads the league in scoring at 28.1 points per
game, had only 14 in Monday's 74-73 loss to Orlando. Tonight,
he scored 10 in the fourth quarter as Philadelphia overcame an
eight-point deficit.

George Lynch had 21 points and Tyrone Hill added 17 for
Philadelphia, which defeated a team with a winning record for
only the fifth time in 13 games. The 76ers snapped a 10-game
losing streak against Indiana, defeating the Pacers for just the
second time since January 15, 1994.

"That was my first time beating Indiana," said Iverson. "It was
real special.

"I really wanted to get the win for coach. He hasn't beaten
them since he arrived here," Iverson said of Sixers coach Larry
Brown, who coached the Pacers for four seasons until 1997.

Iverson was then alerted to the fact that his team has never won
a game in which he scored 40 points.

"I was saying to myself, 'I hope I don't get over the 40 mark
and we lose.' Maybe God was sending me and the team a message,
when I score over 40 we can't win so I'll take the 39 any day
for a win."

"(Iverson) is playing with a lot of confidence," said Pacers
center Rik Smits. "He has the green light to do anything he
wants. When you let him go, he's tough to guard. We like to
think we have a decent defense yet we still gave him almost 40
points."

Reggie Miller scored 27 points and Smits added 22 for Indiana,
which had not dropped two straight games since December 8-10,
1997. The Pacers lost for just the second time in their last
seven road games and fell to 6-4 away from home.

"Both teams went after it," said Miller. "This was more high
scoring than we expected. We thought it was going to be more of
a defensive game, but both teams lit it up from the offensive
end."

The 76ers opened the fourth quarter trailing 91-83 but used a
9-0 burst to seize the lead. Theo Ratliff drained a 16-footer
and Hill followed with a layup. Lynch, the goat in Monday's
loss, sank a long 3-pointer to get Philadelphia within 91-90.

Eric Snow's driving layup gave Philadelphia a one-point lead and
the advantage was never more than four points the rest of the
way. Miller sank a 3-pointer with 9.6 seconds left to draw
Indiana within 112-110, but Snow sealed the victory with a pair
of free throws with 8.8 seconds remaining.

"The great thing about the league is playing again right away,"
said Lynch. "You get to forget about mistakes. You're only as
good as your next game and it was nice to see we could win a
close game."

In Monday's 74-73 loss to the Magic, Lynch threw away an
inbounds pass that allowed Orlando's Darrell Armstrong to hit
the game-winning layup as time expired.

Iverson showed early in the contest that his performance on
Monday was nothing more than a momentary lapse in an All-Star
season. He had 14 points in the first quarter as Philadelphia
led 27-24 after 12 minutes.

After allowing Philadelphia to shoot 67 percent (12-of-18) in
the opening quarter, Indiana turned the tables in the second.
The Pacers made 13-of-19 shots in the second quarter to pull
within 60-59 at the break.

Indiana opened the third quarter with a 13-4 burst, extending
its lead to 84-72 with 7:49 left. Two free throws by Miller
with 3:35 remaining gave the Pacers a nine-point edge.

Protecting double-digit leads has been especially maddening for the Philadelphia 76ers this season.


This time, they just got mad.

Andre Iguodala and Elton Brand scored 18 points each, Allen Iverson added 16 and the 76ers snapped a four-game home losing streak with a 96-92 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Monday night.

"We were a little angry and I thought it helped us," said Brand, who fouled out. "We played with a purpose in the fourth quarter. I think this win will give us a nice boost of confidence."

Thaddeus Young and Lou Williams added 12 points each and Samuel Dalembert had six points, 14 rebounds and five blocks for the Sixers, who had lost nine of 10 at home.

Dalembert had 12 rebounds in the first quarter, the most in one quarter by a Philadelphia player since the Wachovia Center opened for the 1996-97 season.

"Sam's been playing pretty well pretty much all season," Philadelphia coach Eddie Jordan said. "We're happy about the things he's giving us. It just seems like he's getting more and more aggressive each game."

Dalembert entered the game tied for fourth in the league in blocked shots (2.17) with Atlanta's Josh Smith.

"I'm confident in my teammates, so I just go out there and give everything," Dalembert said.

Emeka Okafor had 20 points and 11 rebounds, David West added 13 points and 13 rebounds and Chris Paul had 13 points and 14 assists for the Hornets, whose season-best six-game winning streak was snapped.

New Orleans lost on the road for the first time in four games since Jan. 1.

"We battled back three times," Hornets coach Jeff Bower said. "It was very difficult to fight back and come up short."

With the score tied at 92, Iguodala started to drive and then passed to Dalembert, who hit a short hook from the baseline with 25.5 seconds left.

"The man stepped up and my initial reaction was to throw it to the open man," said Iguodala, who added eight assists and five rebounds.

Peja Stojakovic misfired on a 3-point attempt and Iguodala converted two free throws for a 96-92 lead with 13.2 seconds left.

"It's my shot," Stojakovic said. "I thought I had a good look, but Iguodala came flying at me."

Brand hit a 15-foot jumper to give the Sixers a 91-88 lead with 2:12 remaining before Paul responded with a clutch 3-pointer to tie it at 91 with 1:14 left.

Iverson connected on one of two free throws for a 92-91 lead with 57 seconds to go.

Okafor made one of two free throws with 42.6 seconds left to tie the game again.

An 11-0 run in the fourth by Philadelphia pushed its lead to 86-76 with 7:43 remaining.

But the Sixers have had trouble holding double-digit leads all season and watched the Hornets come right back with a 9-0 run to close within 86-85 with 3:54 left.

"We kept our poise," Brand said.

The Sixers led by as many as 16 points in the first half, but the Hornets responded with a late 13-1 run to get within 46-43.

Philadelphia led 48-43 at halftime.

Before the game, the Hornets traded center Hilton Armstrong and cash considerations to Sacramento for a conditional second-round draft pick in 2016. Armstrong was the 12th overall selection in the 2006 draft.

Additionally, New Orleans guard Darren Collison was a late scratch with a bruised right knee.

Game notes
Jordan said "It doesn't bother me" that 76ers president Ed Stefanski refused to say the embattled first-year coach would last the remainder of the season. Asked on Friday to review Jordan, Stefanski said, "I'm not happy with anything." Jordan said they spoke over the weekend, but wanted to keep the conversation private. ... Jordan said he's hoping regular treatment will improve Iverson's arthritic left knee. "If we manage it correctly, and he's diligent with his rehab and his workouts, it will get better," he said. ... Paul was charged with a technical foul with 9:35 left in regulation.