National Basketball Association

76ers 105, Clippers 91

Published Dec. 16, 2010 5:10 a.m. ET

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A defensive adjustment and a determined approach lifted the surging Philadelphia 76ers past the road-weary Clippers.

Jrue Holiday scored 24 points and Andre Iguodala had eight of his 20 points in Philadelphia's dominating third quarter to lead the 76ers to a 105-91 victory over Los Angeles on Wednesday night.

Spencer Hawes had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Elton Brand added 15 points for the Sixers, who have won three straight and seven of nine.

The Sixers trailed 56-53 at halftime, and coach Doug Collins tweaked his defense to prevent Los Angeles guards from penetrating on pick-and-roll plays. The result was an impressive second half by Philadelphia, particularly the pivotal third quarter when the Sixers outscored Los Angeles 34-18.

''Our defense was fantastic in the second half,'' Collins said. ''We made an adjustment on our screen-roll defense, which I thought changed the game. I was worried at halftime whether we were going to be able to stop them. But we finally got our defense clamped down and that was really the difference.''

Blake Griffin had 20 points and 18 rebounds, matching his career high, to pace the Clippers (5-21), who have dropped all 11 of their road games this season. Counting last season, Los Angeles has lost 15 straight on the road and hasn't won away from home since defeating Houston on March 25 last season.

For Griffin, it was his 13th straight game with a double-double.

Iguodala had eight third-quarter points, making all three of his field goal attempts. The Sixers went 11 for 23 (47.8 percent) from the field during the period, including 3 for 6 from 3-point range. The Clippers, meanwhile, missed 13 of 19 shots.

Collins said Philadelphia's offensive outburst was a result of the improved defensive play.

''When you get stops, we can run,'' he said. ''When we can't get out and run, we have to play a lot of halfcourt. When we can mix in our halfcourt with our running game, then we're very effective. Tonight when we got running with our turnovers and our defense we had a 34-point quarter, so that's when we are at our best.''

Besides the tactical adjustment, Collins praised his players for their mental approach to the second half.

''They got together at the start of the third quarter and said we're going to get this done,'' the coach said. ''That's growth.''

Clippers guard Baron Davis broke out of his recent funk, scoring a season-high 18 points after averaging 4.3 points in his previous four games. Davis entered averaging 7.4 points per game this season, his lowest output since scoring 5.9 per game during his rookie season in 1999. Davis had just two points after halftime.

''In the second half they adjusted on the pick-and-roll and we didn't,'' Davis said. ''In the second half we were trying to force it. When you do that you lose your rhythm.

''We've got to do a better job of playing five-man basketball.''

Eric Gordon had 16 points and DeAndre Jordan 15 for the Clippers.

The third period didn't start badly for Los Angeles, which upped its advantage to 66-62 just 3:54 into the quarter, but it was all Philadelphia after that. Iguoadala's three-point play with 1.2 seconds left gave the Sixers an 87-74 lead entering the fourth after they outscored Los Angeles 25-8 over the last 8:06 of the third.

''We played well in the third quarter and finished the game,'' Brand said.

The Clippers never got closer than 10 points in the final quarter.

''I didn't like our effort at all,'' Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. ''We were OK in the first half but in the second half they were much more aggressive. We turned it over too much and they got some layups off breaks. Our execution on defense was poor.''

Philadelphia matched its season low with five turnovers.

NOTES: Clippers forward Rasual Butler, a La Salle University product, played in his 174th straight game. He was scoreless in 17 minutes. ... Hawes must enjoy playing against the Clippers. He set his career high of 30 points last season on Jan. 1 at Los Angeles. ... Clippers guard Randy Foye, a Villanova product, had two points in 5 minutes in his first game back after missing the previous eight with a strained left hamstring.

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