Several locker stalls away, in the corner closest to the large-screen TV and grease board, Andre Miller dressed alone.

On this night, he was alone at the top, and not just because he put up 28 points and 12 assists, shooting 13-for-21 from the floor in 38 minutes, 40 seconds.

"Two-and-one against the Nuggets so far," Miller said, smiling at his reference to the team that traded him in December of 2006.

Miller doesn't say a lot, but clearly relished winning on a night when former Sixer Allen Iverson had 32 points, eight assists and three steals. He described the Sixers reaching .500 (34-34 after a 5-13 start) as "big."

"We're playing good basketball this month," he said. "Everybody is contributing. We're on a little run."

That little run now includes eight victories in the last nine games, 16 of 20 and 10 of 11 at the Wachovia Center.

"I was just trying to get some type of energy down the stretch," he said. "The ball fell our way."

The sellout crowd went their way, too. The announced 20,764 showered love on Iverson for 1 minute, 5 seconds when he was introduced, then focused on the Sixers for most of the evening.

But for all the emotion, all the energy, the Sixers - who shot 60 percent from the floor but just 55 percent from the foul line - came up with the winning basket on a broken play with 32.9 seconds left.

With the teams deadlocked at 113-113, Iguodala (21 points, six assists, five rebounds, four steals) tried to spin on Kenyon Martin and go to the basket, hoping to get the hoop or draw a foul. But he got turned around, and, with his back to the basket and falling, he saw Marcus Camby coming hard to help. He flipped the ball up in the general direction of the rim.

"I knew Sam [center Samuel Dalembert] was right there," Iguodala said. "I just threw it up."

Well, he sort of knew Dalembert was there.

"He was supposed to be there," Iguodala said, smiling. "Just like J-Kidd [Dallas point guard Jason Kidd]. He throws it where guys are supposed to be."

Dalembert laid the ball in for the two-point advantage.

The Nuggets had one last gasp, but Iverson missed a 20-foot jumper and Camby, who swept the rebound, missed a 7-footer.

After which the crowd erupted one final time.

"That was like a playoff game, both teams battling," Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said. "The game was just drama, and I thought our guys handled it well, each and every one of them, getting up and down the floor, particularly in the open court. When you play a team like Denver, the defense has to be a little stronger, because they usually play this type of game, a quick-paced game." *