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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, April 5, 2009

76ers make second straight playoffs

Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala celebrates after scoring against Detroit during the 76ers' 95-90 victory.

H. RUMPH JR. | Associated Press

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PHILADELPHIA — Wanting to clinch a playoff berth at home, Philadelphia coach Tony DiLeo relied on Andre Iguodala and Andre Miller, and they came though for the 76ers in a 95-90 win over the Detroit Pistons yesterday.

Playing the entire second half, Iguodala scored 16 of his season-high 31 points, and Miller added a triple-double with 21 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, helping the 76ers advance to the playoffs for the second straight season.

"We took a little gamble playing Andre the whole second half, but we felt we had to do it," DiLeo said. "Miller had a great game with the triple-double and Andre Iguodala had the high score, so those two guys really stepped it up."

Despite having a game today against New Jersey, DiLeo wanted to seal a berth as soon as possible, and his veteran leaders didn't flinch when asked to keep playing.

"This game was important," Miller said. "We needed to win. The playoff clinch is a plus, but we definitely needed this home win before we went on this road trip. That's why we wanted to stay on the court. We worked hard to get to this point. The hard work is paying off."

Detroit led by 12 points in the second half and took an 88-87 lead with 2:17 left in the game after Rodney Stuckey made two free throws. But Miller made three free throws and Reggie Evans added two more with 39 seconds left for a 92-88 lead. Stuckey banked two foul shots with 22.7 seconds left, cutting the lead to 92-90, but Miller answered with two more.

Iguodala scored the final point for the Sixers, and the crowd celebrated.

"Iguodala had a big night, but we gave him four backdoor lobs," Pistons coach Michael Curry said. "The key with him is to keep him in front of you. The last couple of minutes they did what they've been doing."

Stuckey scored 23 points for Detroit, and Kwame Brown added a season-high 15 in the loss, which combined with Chicago's win over New Jersey, put the Pistons a half-game behind the Bulls for the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference.

Detroit still leads Charlotte for the eighth and final spot.

RAPTORS 102, KNICKS 95:

Andrea Bargnani scored 23 points, Chris Bosh had 17 points and 13 rebounds, and visiting Toronto eliminated New York from playoff contention while extending its winning streak to six and staying alive for an Eastern Conference playoff spot.

BULLS 103, NETS 94:

Ben Gordon scored 12 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, John Salmons added 17 and host Chicago, which never trailed until Brook Lopez hit a short jump hook to make it 94-93 with 2:50 left, finished the game with a 10-run to beat New Jersey for its eighth win in 11 games.

MAGIC 88, HAWKS 82:

Dwight Howard scored 21 points and tied a season-high with 23 rebounds, helping visiting Orlando beat Atlanta to pull within a half-game of tying Boston for second place in the Eastern Conference. It was the ninth time this season that he's had at least 20 points and 20 rebounds in a game.

HEAT 118, WIZARDS 104:

Dwyane Wade scored 33 points, and visiting Miami broke a franchise record with eight 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to pull away and complete a 4-0 season sweep of Washington, while remaining a game behind the fifth-place Philadelphia.

NUGGETS 120, CLIPPERS 104:

With Kenyon Martin sitting out with sore ribs, J.R. Smith led the way in scoring for the second straight game with a 34-point performance off the bench, and Carmelo Anthony added 18 points, helping host Denver roll past Los Angeles.

GRIZZLIES 107, BUCKS 102:

Rudy Gay scored 26 points, Marc Gasol added 19 and host Memphis built a 20-point lead midway through the third quarter to beat Milwaukee, who got no closer than 105-102 with 40.4 seconds left.

NOTES

BUCKS:

Milwaukee center Andrew Bogut will miss the last five games of the season with a lingering back injury. Bogut played in 36 games this season. He averaged 11.7 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 blocked shots.

HEAT:

Miami forward Udonis Haslem missed last night's game against Washington, a night after cutting his right thumb on a backboard. Haslem needed six stitches after cutting the finger while defending Gerald Wallace's driving layup attempt in the third quarter of a victory over Charlotte.

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