76ers Top Pacers 89-88 in Final Seconds

PHILADELPHIA – Kyle Korver made a go-ahead jumper with 6.5 seconds left, and Allen Iverson returned from a three-game absence to score 27 points in the Philadelphia 76ers’ 89-88 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Monday night.

Korver hit five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points. Kenny Thomas scored 12 for the Sixers, who opened a four-game homestand.

Stephen Jackson scored 25 points and Jermaine O’Neal had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers, who lost their fifth straight.

Indiana led 88-87 when Thomas made a nice little hook pass to Samuel Dalembert under the basket. Dalembert, though, had his dunk blocked by O’Neal, the Pacers recovered and Jackson was fouled.

Jackson, playing his fourth game since returning from a 30-game suspension for his role in the brawl in Detroit, missed both free throws with 15.1 seconds left.

Iverson, who had missed three straight games with a shoulder injury, dribbled down the lane, ran into O’Neal and kicked it out to Korver, who was coming off a screen. With no one in front of him, the mop-topped guard sank a 20-footer from the left side and moved the Sixers into first place by a half-game over Boston in the Atlantic Division.

Neither team gave the other much room in the fourth. There were 17 lead changes and 11 ties in the game.

The Sixers’ 81-78 lead was erased on a 3-pointer by Fred Jones with 4:48 left. Jones then gave the Pacers an 88-85 lead with 1:29 left when he made all three free throws after he was fouled by Iverson on a 3-point attempt.

Iverson, the NBA’s leading scorer, cut it to 88-87 on a couple of free throws, and the Pacers never scored again.

Indiana closed the third with a 21-8 run to wipe out a 10-point deficit. Reggie Miller hit a 3-pointer to tie the score and O’Neal put the Pacers ahead 63-62 on a 17-footer from the left side.

O’Neal also had three blocked shots and the Pacers finished with nine overall.

Notes:@ Pacers PG Jamaal Tinsley left in the second quarter with a sprained left foot and did not return. … Jones finished with 12 points. … Sixers F Glenn Robinson, who has not played this season and made few appearances with the team, was in the locker room before the game. … Actor Jamie Kennedy (“Malibu’s Most Wanted”) was at the game. … The Sixers have played nine more road games than home games this season, but that starts to even out in February. They play eight of their 11 games at home and two of the road trips are to New York and New Jersey. … Corliss Williamson, Iverson and O’Neal were whistled for technical fouls.