Allen Iverson was already feeling ill before playing Atlanta. Watching the lowly Hawks nearly win their third straight made it even worse.

"We're making it real tough on ourselves," Iverson said, who played through flu-like symptoms. "The positive part is we got the win. That's the ultimate goal, but we've got to finish games a lot better than we've been doing."

Iverson scored 39 points, Chris Webber had 29 and the Philadelphia 76ers held off another spirited effort from the Atlanta Hawks (who had just beat the Defending World Champ Spurs) in a 106-101 victory on Wednesday night.

Philadelphia 106, Atlanta 101

AI's Stats: 15-30 39 Pts, 6 Ast, 4 Stl

By DAN GELSTON, AP Sports Writer
December 14, 2005

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Allen Iverson was already feeling ill before playing Atlanta. Watching the lowly Hawks nearly win their third straight made it even worse.

"We're making it real tough on ourselves," Iverson said. "The positive part is we got the win. That's the ultimate goal, but we've got to finish games a lot better than we've been doing."

Iverson scored 39 points, Chris Webber had 29 and the Philadelphia 76ers held off another spirited effort from the Atlanta Hawks in a 106-101 victory on Wednesday night.

"It's not as easy as you think trying to stop those guys," Iverson said.

Samuel Dalembert had 11 rebounds and two blocked shots, helping the Atlantic Division-leading Sixers to their fourth straight win and they moved over .500 for the first time since Nov. 29.

"We're getting to the point where we know what feels good," Webber said.

Al Harrington scored 27 points, Tyronn Lue had 21 and Joe Johnson 17 for the Hawks, who have shown some positive signs lately, winning consecutive games against the defending champion San Antonio Spurs and at Cleveland.

The Hawks came oh-so close to making it three straight overall and two in two nights on the road until unraveling late in the fourth.

Harrington was dominant in the fourth, spinning and powering his way into the paint for uncontested baskets and forceful dunks that nearly knocked the wind out of the Sixers.

His last basket put the Hawks ahead 95-94, but Webber hit a jumper and sank two free throws for a 98-95 lead. Lue, so much of a pain against the Sixers since the 2001 NBA Finals when he was with the Lakers that he's still booed every time he touches the ball, gave the fans another reason to dislike him with a game-tying 3-pointer.

Andre Iguodala, though, made one of two free throws with 38 seconds left for a 99-98 lead.

Then frustration set in on Atlanta and the technical fouls started coming.

Josh Smith was whistled for one after he fouled out, allowing Webber to sink three straight free throws. Atlanta coach Mike Woodson was hit with two quick T's in the final minute that again sent Webber to the line for another made free throw.

Salim Stoudamire's 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds left pulled the Hawks to 104-101, but Kyle Korver sealed the win from the line.

"We were trying to so hard to win three in a row," Josh Childress said. "We were good enough to beat them tonight. They were back on their heels.

Some Hawks complained about the officiating after they went to the line 18 times compared to 35 attempts for the Sixers.

"That's why we lost the game," Harrington said. "When you're a bad team, you don't get any benefits on the calls. We know it and the media knows it."

Woodson said some of the calls, or non-calls, were "just not fair," and that he was going to fight for his team.

Iverson played through flu-like symptoms and made seven of his first eight shots before tiring in the fourth. Iverson's reverse layup midway through the second quarter gave the Sixers a 14-point cushion, one they sorely needed as Lue and Harrington began whittling away at with big buckets in the third.

Harrington sank a 3-pointer and Lue converted a turnover into a fast-break layup to give the Hawks a 60-58 lead. Smith put them ahead with two free throws, starting a run where the teams swapped the lead on almost every possession and the quarter ended tied 78-all.

Notes

Hawks C/F Zaza Pachulia did not play because of back spasms. ... Iverson went over 1,500 career steals. He also led the Sixers in scoring after his streak of leading the team in 21 straight games was snapped Monday. ... Sixers F Shavlik Randolph had 12 rebounds.