Iverson's 29 lead Sixers again

PHILADELPHIA -- Allen Iverson didn't have to do all the scoring this time.\nIverson, coming off a brilliant 55-point performance in the playoff opener, had 29 and Kenny Thomas had 17 points and 16 rebounds, leading the Philadelphia 76ers to a 90-85 victory over the New Orleans Hornets Wednesday night.\nThe Sixers lead 2-0 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal. Game 3 is Saturday in New Orleans.\nDerrick Coleman had 12 points and six assists and Keith Van Horn added 11 points for the Sixers. Thomas, Van Horn and Coleman, Philadelphia's starting frontcourt, had 11 points combined in Game 1. They got 40 Wednesday.\nDavid Wesley had 24 points and Robert Pack added 15 for New Orleans. Jamal Mashburn scored 14, but only one point after dislocating his right middle finger in the third quarter.\nThe Hornets were without Baron Davis, their second-leading scorer who was out with a left knee injury. Mashburn sat out the final 6:49.\nDespite missing its two best players, New Orleans trailed only 79-73 after Robert Traylor hit a jumper with 7:40 left.\nBut Iverson answered with a 15-footer and a long jumper that made it 83-73 with 4:25 remaining. Coleman set up Iverson' second jumper, diving to gather in a loose ball and drawing a standing ovation from a Philadelphia crowd that once vilified him during his first tour with the Sixers from 1995-98.\nAfter a pair of free throws by Coleman made it 86-76, Iverson hit another long jumper with 2:29 left. The Hornets didn't get closer than seven the rest of the way.\nIverson made 21 of 32 shots in an incredible display Sunday, hitting jumpers from all over the floor. He missed 16 of 27 shots in Game 2 as the Hornets used several different defenders on him.\nPack, who didn't even play in the series opener, had the most success against Iverson in the second quarter and part of the third. But Pack got his fifth foul early in the third quarter and didn't return until midway through the fourth.\nIverson missed six of his 12 free throws, including five straight in the second quarter.\nWesley, who had five points in the opener, scored the first seven for the Hornets and 10 of the first 14.\nNew Orleans, which trailed by 17 in the first half, got to 55-51 on a 3-pointer by Wesley in the third. But a 3-pointer by Van Horn and two driving layups by Eric Snow put Philadelphia ahead 65-56.\nWith time winding down in the third period, Iverson dribbled around Stacey Augmon, banged into Traylor, stepped back and hit a 3-pointer to give the Sixers a 76-66 lead entering the fourth quarter.\nThe Sixers outscored New Orleans 16-4 to start the second quarter, taking a 43-26 lead. They went on a 10-2 run with Iverson on the bench, getting two layups from Monty Williams during that stretch.\nThree free throws by Mashburn and a layup by George Lynch cut it to 50-38 at halftime.