The Philadelphia 76ers hadn't won a game. The Indiana Pacers hadn't lost.
Until Saturday night.
The 76ers, playing their fourth game in five days, handed the Pacers a 111-109 loss and gave Philadelphia coach Maurice Cheeks his first win with the team.
The Pacers were unbeaten and are among the favorites to contend for the Eastern Conference title. The 76ers were coming off a 20-point loss to Detroit and a 17-point home loss to Charlotte.
Chris Webber said the team was happy to get a win for Cheeks, who played for the 76ers.
"It felt good to get coach Cheeks his first win because he's proud to be a 76er and that makes me proud to be a 76er," said Webber, who had 25 points and nine rebounds.
Allen Iverson led Philadelphia (1-3) with 29 points and 12 assists.
Jermaine O'Neal led Indiana (2-1) with 23 points and 15 rebounds.
Philadelphia ruined Ron Artest's first regular-season home game since last November. He was suspended for 73 games and the playoffs last season after going into the stands Nov. 19 and fighting with Pistons fans in Auburn Hills, Mich. He finished with 15 points and six rebounds.
The 76ers nearly blew a 20-point lead. Indiana had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds, but Stephen Jackson and Jamaal Tinsley missed 3-pointers and Webber made two free throws on the other end with 1.8 seconds left to seal the win.
Tinsley finished with 21 points and six assists. Jackson scored 14 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, making three 3-pointers.
"This was a heck of a win for us," Cheeks said. "We had to grind it out in the end, and they made some spectacular 3-point shots, but we were able to hold on."
Kyle Korver, who had 15 points and a career-high nine assists for the 76ers, said Cheeks motivated the team before the game.
"Coach challenged us," he said. "He didn't yell, he didn't curse or anything like that. He just laid it on the line for us and told us we need to meet the challenge."
The Pacers were grasping for answers after starting the season with wins at Orlando and Miami. Tinsley said the loss takes some luster off the impressive start.
"We waited too late to play," Tinsley said. "Can't wait until the fourth quarter then hope to play catch-up and win. Coming here and laying an egg took enough away from it."
Artest might have tried to do too much in his long-awaited return to Conseco Fieldhouse. The Pacers made their first 20 free-throw attempts, but Artest missed one in the final minute with the Pacers trailing 108-105. He also had a turnover on a drive to the hoop with the Pacers trailing 106-102, and Webber scored at the other end to increase Philadelphia's lead to four with 1:45 left.
Iverson entered the game third in the league with 31.7 points per game despite shooting 39 percent from the field. He made 11-of-29 shots against the Pacers.
"My teammates did a great job," he said. "They hit big shots. They picked me up tonight and helped me out."
Philadelphia led 61-52 at halftime and took an 86-66 lead on Iverson's basket with 4:14 left in the third quarter.
"Our defense has to be more solid, 111 points on our court is too many," Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. "We have to be a better defensive team than that."
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Zydrunas Ilgauskas didn't care who was or wasn't wearing a 76ers' jersey.
Four years between victories over Philadelphia was long enough.
Ilgauskas scored 28 points and had a key putback, assist and
block in overtime as the Cavaliers snapped a 16-game losing streak
against the Sixers with a 91-88 win Saturday night.
The 7-foot-3 Ilgauskas added eight rebounds and a career-high
seven assists for the Cavs, who hadn't beaten the undermanned
Sixers since April 2, 1999, at Philadelphia.
"Every win is a good win for us," Ilgauskas said. "We only
won 17 games last year, so they're all big. That's a tough team to
beat."
Rookie LeBron James had 22 points, eight assists, five rebounds
and a huge block with 11 seconds left in overtime for the
Cavaliers, who won it with defense down the stretch.
With Cleveland clinging to 90-88 lead, James was caught by a
pick in the lane but raced across the floor and swatted away rookie
Kyle Korver's jumper from the baseline.
"They used (Allen) Iverson as a decoy," James said. "When
Korver got it, I knew he was going to shoot and I just had one of
my high school moments."
Korver then missed a 3-pointer with 5.5 seconds left, and Kevin
Ollie made one of two free throws for Cleveland. Philadelphia guard
Eric Snow's desperation heave at the horn was way off.
The Sixers played without their starting frontcourt for the
second straight game. Derrick Coleman, Glenn Robinson and Kenny
Thomas sat out with injuries.
Iverson, the NBA's leading scorer, matched a season-low with 19
points on 8-of-29 shooting. After leading the Sixers to a win over
the defending champion San Antonio Spurs on Friday, Iverson, who
was hounded by Ricky Davis, just didn't have it.
"If I have an off-night, I have an off-night," Iverson said.
"But I don't do my teammates any favors if I quit trying. You have
to keep fighting and hopefully something will happen at the end.
That's the way it nearly went."
Marc Jackson had 19 points and 15 rebounds for the Sixers, who
shot 34 percent. Snow was just 3-for-15 from the field.
Carlos Boozer, who had 15 points and 15 rebounds, opened the OT
with a jumper and then scored on a dunk off a nice inside feed from
Ilgauskas to put the Cavs up 88-84 with 2:47 left.
After John Salmons scored for Philly, the Cavs crashed the
boards with Ilgauskas finally following in a miss underneath to
make it 90-86.
Ilgauskas, who played the entire OT with five personal fouls,
then blocked Salmons' shot with 1:27 left.
"It was Z's night," Iverson said of Ilgauskas. "They ran
their offense through him. He shot well and caused us problems with
his passing, too."
Aaron McKie's two free throws pulled Philly to 90-88, but the
Cavs survived the comeback with some stifling defense -- a rarity
for them in the early season -- and just enough offense down the
stretch.
"This is a huge win for us," James said. "We didn't buckle
under pressure and we executed in overtime. That's a big, big step
for us."
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Phoenix is not a good place for a worn-out team to play.
The road-weary Philadelphia 76ers found that out in a 105-85 loss to the fast-paced Suns on Wednesday night.
Steve Nash made 11-of-15 shots and scored 24 points, then sat out the fourth for the Suns, who won for the fifth time in six games.
Reserves James Jones and Eddie House scored 19 and 18 points, respectively. Each was 4-for-7 on 3-pointers. Shawn Marion added 13 points and 13 rebounds and Raja Bell scored 13 as Phoenix snapped a three-game home losing streak. Boris Diaw had a game-high 10 assists.
Samuel Dalembert scored 14 and grabbed a career-high 22 rebounds for Philadelphia. Andre Iguodala scored 14 and Kyle Korver 11 for the 76ers.
Allen Iverson, a 30 percent career shooter at America West Arena, stayed true to his history by shooting 7-for-23 for 16 points.
"I have no idea," he said when asked to explain his shooting woes in Phoenix. "The bad part about it is I love the gym and the atmosphere, so I have no idea why it's like that."
Philadelphia was without Chris Webber for the first time this season. He sat out with a lower back strain. The 76ers, winners at Sacramento on Tuesday night, were playing their sixth on a seven-game road trip.
"Us coming off back to backs and playing a team that gets out and runs was going to be a challenge for us," Philadelphia coach Maurice Cheeks said. "I'm not totally upset about this game. We knew it was going to be a tough game just based on the way they play."
The Suns, just back from a 4-1 road trip, trailed 48-44 after Iverson sank a 3-pointer to start the second half.
Phoenix responded with a 19-3 run to take a 63-51 lead. Bell started the surge with a 19-footer and a 3-pointer. Marion had a pair of inside baskets on lob passes and Jones sank a 3-pointer in the outburst.
Phoenix stretched the lead to 79-59 on Nash's falling-down eight-footer with 13 seconds left in the third. The Suns were up 79-61 entering the fourth and were never seriously threatened after that.
"I think they ran out of steam, and we picked it up," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "It was a combination of both."
Phoenix outscored Philadelphia 35-16 in the third quarter.
"We were a little sluggish at first. That happens after a long road trip," Marion said. "But we kept our composure and got our second wind in the second half and just opened the game up on them."
Dalembert's previous career best was 19 rebounds against Portland last April 1.
Neither team led by more than six points in the first half.
Nash scored 15 in the first half on 7-for-11 shooting. Dalembert had 14 first-half rebounds. Iverson scored 11 on 5-for-14 shooters in the first two quarters.
Game notes
Thanks to an airlines merger, America West Arena will become U.S. Airways Center on Friday. ... D'Antoni said he expected guard Leandro Barbosa, out with a knee injury, to be back in about 10 days. He could begin to practice late this week. ... Iverson drew a technical with 6:05 left in the third quarter. ... The 76ers end their longest trip of the season against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night. ... Phoenix has home games against Miami on Friday and San Antonio on Saturday.