76ers beat Warriors on Wilt tribute night

The costumed fans who sit behind the 76ers' basket in the second half began chanting, in unison, "100 for Wilt," with just under four minutes to play in the Sixers' 105-83 victory over the Golden State Warriors at Wells Fargo Center on Friday, but the home team needed that elusive number perhaps even more for its own sanity.

That moment finally came on Andre Iguodala's 18-footer that pushed the lead to 101-79 with 1 minute, 25 seconds left in the game. When Iguodala's jumper finally split the net, the 18,323 fans erupted with glee not seen in these parts for quite some time.

"Yeah, we noticed," a cheerful Elton Brand said after posting 14 points, 14 rebounds, and a pair of blocked shots. "Hey, we got to 105. So we got the 100. But we were thinking about getting the win. Once we got to 100, we wanted to get that for the fans because they get their treats, of course."

And then Brand paid homage to Wilt Chamberlain, the Overbrook High School legend who may be the most dominant statistical athlete in any team sport. Friday marked the 50th anniversary of Chamberlain scoring 100 points in a game, a record that stand to this day.

The 105 points the Sixers scored marks the first time they have scored 100 points or more in 19 games. It was the first time they crossed the century mark since they defeated the Washington Wizards, 103-83, on Jan. 23.

It was just their second win in their last eight games, and it ended their streak of home losses at four.

The Sixers, winners of just four games in their last 12, had not won at Wells Fargo Center since they defeated the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 6.

"It was a great win for us and I want our guys to enjoy every win," Sixers coach Doug Collins said. "Every win is incredibly precious. I'm going to give the guys tomorrow [Saturday] off to enjoy this and they can come in and get ready to play Chicago. The way we look at it is we've started the second half of the season 2-1."

The Sixers never really faced much of a challenge from Golden State, which was playing its fourth of six road games and was playing without starting point guard Stephan Curry (strained right foot).

They went ahead for good in the second quarter on Thaddeus Young's dunk early, led by 10 at the end of the third quarter, and never allowed the Warriors, led by David Lee's 24 points and 15 rebounds, to cut the lead to single digits again.

The Sixers' Lou Williams made sure of this in the fourth quarter, when he scored 15 of his game-high 25 points.

"I just wanted to have a big night," said Williams, who was 3 for 5 from behind the three-point line in the fourth quarter. "We have been struggling as a whole. You feel you have to do your part to help your team get back into the habit of winning. I think everybody kind of did that tonight."

Williams and Brand got significant help against the Warriors. Iguodala finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists; Thaddeus Young had 16 points; Jrue Holiday finished with 13; and rookie center Lavoy Allen had 10 points and seven rebounds.