Nets Hand Sixers Rare Road Loss

The All-Star break can't come soon enough for the Philadelphia 76ers, who admit they've "hit the wall."

The Sixers certainly played that way Sunday in their biggest letdown in almost a month as they allowed the lowly New Jersey Nets to score 34 points in the fourth quarter and lost on the road for just the sixth time this season, 96-89.

"Yeah, we're tired. Everybody's tired. You know something's wrong when I get tired," said Allen Iverson, who scored 32 points but was held to just two in the fourth quarter.

Stephon Marbury scored 34 points and Kenyon Martin and Keith Van Horn added 20 apiece for the Nets, who snapped a seven-game losing streak and beat a team with a winning record for the first time since Dec. 10.

The Nets outscored the Sixers 34-17 in the fourth quarter.

Tyrone Hill and Aaron McKie also admitted that the Sixers were exhausted, and coach Larry Brown agreed. Still, the Sixers can go into the All-Star break with a record of 35-13 if they win their next two games at home against Denver and Houston.

Theo Ratliff had a season-high 22 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks for the Sixers, who turned to McKie and George Lynch for a majority of their big shots in the fourth quarter.

McKie missed three consecutive shots in the final minute as Iverson didn't take one until attempting a meaningless 3-pointer just before the final buzzer.

"He was doubled, and the next perimeter option is myself - it's been like that throughout the season," McKie said. "They were pretty good looks, I just didn't make them. If I had 'em again, I'd take 'em again."

Given the quality of the competition, it was the worst loss for the Sixers since an 18-point home loss to Portland on Jan. 10. Philadelphia's road record dropped to 21-6.

"These are the scariest games to play, because against teams with a losing record you tend to have a letdown, and by the time you wake up the game is over," said Iverson, who was angry that the referees did not send him to the free throw line more when he kept getting knocked down on drives to the basket.

"When I'm going in there and getting knocked down and nothing's happening, I'm the one looking like a fool," Iverson said. "If it continues to go like this, I might not make it through the second half of the season."

New Jersey opened the fourth quarter with a 17-6 run to pull to 79-78 and finally tied it at 84 on an 18-foot jumper by Martin with 3:30 left.

Aaron Williams made two foul shots to give the Nets their first lead since early in the second quarter, then blocked a shot by Iverson to start a fastbreak layup by Marbury for an 88-84 lead.

Lynch scored the 76ers' next five points, but the Nets stayed ahead by scoring their next three points - a putback by Van Horn and a free throw by Williams after grabbing offensive rebounds. The Nets had a 53-36 edge in rebounding.

McKie missed a 3-pointer with 41 seconds left, and Marbury drove the lane for a double-clutch layup that gave New Jersey a 91-87 lead. McKie then missed from the corner, Johnny Newman made a foul shot and McKie missed another jumper before Williams hit two foul shots to wrap up the victory.

"It's very big for us, being that we've been playing bad," Marbury said. "When we have Kenyon and Keith making shots, it's a different game."

The Nets stuck with the Sixers through the first quarter, but Philadelphia opened the second quarter with a 15-4 run ending with an alley-oop dunk by Rodney Buford on a pasfrom Iverson for a 35-26 lead.

Iverson took over in the third quarter, scoring 18 points and making four 3-pointers - one of which came as he was falling down - to help the Sixers take a 10-point lead into the fourth.

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