76ers win fourth in a row

HOUSTON - On a night they took 24 three-point shots, trailed by as many as 13 points, and allowed an 18-0 first-half run, the 76ers somehow defeated the Houston Rockets, 102-95, last night at the Toyota Center.

They did so by making 22 of 23 free throws, storming the offensive glass in the second half, and forcing Houston guard Aaron Brooks to race from sideline to sideline for his second-half points.

The Sixers, winners of four consecutive games, improved to 19-31; the Rockets dropped to 27-23.

Early in the third quarter, on a three from Brooks, who finished with 34 points, Houston took a 60-47 lead, its biggest of the game. A few minutes later, Houston guard Kyle Lowry, who had scored 14 points, sprained his ankle attempting to score in transition. He hobbled to the training room with 7 minutes, 3 seconds remaining in the third quarter and did not return.

"Lowry was really tough for them," Sixers swingman Andre Iguodala said. "When he came out of the game, that felt like the turning point for them."

Brooks finished the game shooting 11 for 25, his team's sole offensive threat.

"Guarding the ball was paramount, and I think maybe we got a little break when Lowry went out, but I thought we were starting to do a good job anyway with him in there," Sixers coach Eddie Jordan said. "But guarding the ball was big for us."

Iguodala had 10 rebounds and 14 points, 10 of those points coming in the fourth quarter.

One night after dominating the second-string guards of the New Orleans Hornets, Brooks and Lowry shot over and drove around whomever guarded them in the first half last night.

In the half, Brooks scored 19 points while going 6 for 11 from the field and 4 for 5 from three-point distance.

Lowry, a former Villanova Wildcat, completed two old-fashioned three-point plays, both on twisting, scooping drives to the bucket. In the half, Lowry scored 12 points on 4-for-5 shooting from the field and a 4-for-4 effort from the free-throw line.

The Sixers, without a double-figure scorer, were outrebounded, 24-15.

At halftime, Houston, relying heavily on its bench, keeping starters fresh, held a 57-47 lead.

Believe it or not, in the first quarter, the Sixers were a few good offensive possessions from breaking open a 20-point lead. On two free throws by Willie Green with 4 minutes, 37 seconds remaining in the quarter, the Sixers were ahead, 22-9. Their next three possessions consisted of two missed turnaround jumpers by Elton Brand, and a turnover by Jrue Holiday.

By the end of the quarter - on a deep corner three-pointer by Houston's Chase Budinger - the Rockets trailed by only 26-22.

In a 36-10 run during the first and second quarters, Houston got two three-pointers from point guard Aaron Brooks and 10 points from Lowry. After this run, the Rockets were up by 45-32.

Within that 36-10 run was an 18-0 run, during which Sixers coach Eddie Jordan did not call a time-out. This scoreless stretch of 4:42 finally ended on a Brand jump shot with 5:44 remaining in the second quarter.

Houston scored 35 points in the quarter. Whatever momentum the Sixers had created with their three-game winning streak came to a screeching halt in a 12-minute span. By the end of the Rockets' surge, most of the Sixers were leaning back in their chairs, towels covering their heads.

"We just couldn't score the ball," Iguodala said of that stretch. "We tend to get into those five-, six-minute lapses where we don't have good offense, don't run it as well as we could. We kind of go through the motions and think we can get any shot."