PHILADELPHIA — It had been 18 years since Tony DiLeo paced the sideline as a coach — and that came in another country.

Though he couldn't revel in the circumstances of his elevation to coach of the Philadelphia 76ers because of his close relationship with Maurice Cheeks, the experience didn't seem any different.

Elton Brand scored a season-high 27 points, leading Philadelphia to a 104-89 victory over the struggling Washington Wizards last night in DiLeo's coaching debut with the 76ers.

"I did feel comfortable," DiLeo said. "Coaching is like managing. Any time I had a question, the assistant coaches were there to answer them. The game flew by and brought back a lot of feelings."

Lou Williams added 15 points, Thaddeus Young and Andre Iguodala each had 14, and Willie Green scored 13 for the Sixers, who snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 10-14.

Cheeks didn't receive that type of balance on a consistent basis and was subsequently fired earlier yesterday as coach of the Sixers, who were slumping badly after making the playoffs last season. DiLeo, the team's assistant general manager, was appointed coach for the rest of the season.

"It's up to the players to work through this and continue to improve," Brand said. "We have a lot of pride and we're going to get better. Tony talked to us before the game and he knows we'll go out and play hard for him."

DiLeo played and coached in West Germany for 10 seasons before joining the Sixers in 1990-91. He has extensive experience in international basketball as both a player and a coach, and had a brief stint as an NBA assistant in the early 1990s, but hadn't been in a huddle in the league in more than a decade.

HAWKS 97, CAVALIERS 92

Mike Bibby scored 24 points, Marvin Williams hit the clinching free throws, and host Atlanta snapped Cleveland's 11-game winning streak.

LeBron James had 33 points and nine assists for the Cavs, who overcame a 14-point deficit in the third quarter to take a 70-68 lead early in the fourth on Mo Williams' layup.

Williams finished with 26 points for the Cavs, who were trying for the first 12-game winning streak in franchise history, having won 11 in a row four times.

PISTONS 90, BOBCATS 86

Allen Iverson scored 20 points, Rasheed Wallace hit a 3-pointer with 10.4 seconds left to avoid an embarrassing collapse, and visiting Detroit beat Charlotte.

Taking advantage of the ragged debut by Charlotte newcomers Boris Diaw and Raja Bell, the Pistons led by 29 points in the third quarter and by 24 with 9 minutes left.

KNICKS 114, KINGS 90

Al Harrington made five 3-pointers and scored 33 points, helping visiting New York beat Sacramento.

Nate Robinson had 19 points, and David Lee had 17 points and 19 rebounds for the Knicks, who scored 43 first-quarter points.

The Knicks have won two straight road games for the first time since last January. New York won at New Jersey, 121-109, on Wednesday.

MAVERICKS 103, THUNDER 99

Dirk Nowitzki scored a season-high 46 points, Jason Terry added 28 and host Dallas won for the 11th time in 13 games.

Nowitzki, who was 17-of-30 from the floor, tied his career high for field goals made in a game. It was his ninth 40-point game and third-highest total of his career.

BULLS 113, NETS 104

Ben Gordon scored 29 points and Derrick Rose had nine of his 22 in the fourth quarter to lead host Chicago over New Jersey.

One night after going 0-for-13 against Toronto in the worst shooting performance of his career, New Jersey's Vince Carter bounced back with 39 points on 11 for 22 shooting from the field.

BUCKS 121, PACERS 103

Michael Redd scored 27 points, and Andrew Bogut had 20 points and 20 rebounds, as host Milwaukee blew a 21-point second-half lead before scoring the game's final 19 points to beat Indiana.

Charlie Villanueva added 26 points, 24 in the first half, to equal a season high and help the Bucks snap a three-game losing streak.

NUGGETS 123, WARRIORS 105

Carmelo Anthony had 27 points and nine rebounds, Chauncey Billups added 16 points and 11 assists, and host Denver beat Golden State.

Kenyon Martin, who returned to the lineup after missing two games with a sprained left wrist, had 15 points for the Nuggets, who had six players score in double figures.

MAGIC 103, JAZZ 94

Rashard Lewis scored 27 points, and visiting Orlando beat Utah despite playing without injured center Dwight Howard for the first time.

Howard missed the first game of his career because of a left knee injury sustained in Friday's loss at Phoenix. He had played in all 351 games since being drafted No. 1 overall in 2004.

CLIPPERS 95, ROCKETS 82

Zach Randolph had 30 points and 13 rebounds, Al Thornton scored 26 points, and host Los Angeles beat Houston to record back-to-back victories for the first time this season.

Yao Ming had 24 points and 13 rebounds for the Rockets, who had beaten the Clippers in seven consecutive meetings.