Stephon Marbury dominated early. Allen Iverson struck late.

Iverson scored 14 of his 38 points in the final nine minutes as the Philadelphia 76ers rallied for a 102-94 victory over Marbury and the New Jersey Nets.

The NBA's leading scorer, Iverson fell a bucket shy of his 16th 40-point game of the season. He took over in the fourth quarter, giving the 76ers their first lead since the opening minute with a fadeaway jumper with 8:22 remaining and made sure they never trailed again.

Iverson was just 12-of-32 from the field but made 13-of-14 free throws and added seven assists and four steals. He scored 14 of Philadelphia's final 19 points, then skipped the media to nurse bruised ribs and a fat lip, products of a somewhat chippy game.

Marbury collected 20 points and 14 assists. He scored 16 points in the first half, when the Nets controlled play. But he went scoreless over the final 7 1/2 minutes, when the Sixers trapped him to force the ball out of his hands.

Forced to become a playmaker rather than a scorer, Marbury was let down a bit by his teammates. The Nets scored just 15 points in the fourth quarter and lost for the 12th time in their last 13 road games.

Last month, Iverson and Marbury teamed up to rally the Eastern Conference from a 21-point fourth-quarter deficit to victory in the All-Star Game. In this one, Iverson hounded Marbury down the stretch. Marbury shot 8-of-24 and committed seven turnovers.

"They went big, and we tried to trap him and get it out of his hands," Sixers coach Larry Brown said. "Then we tried to keep him from getting it. Our big guys did a good job of trapping and then Allen did a terrific job of denying."

"He was getting fouled and he wasn't getting calls," Nets coach Byron Scott said. "He goes to the line two times tonight. That's ridiculous. They say he is creating all the contact, but that other little guy (Iverson) that is pretty (darn) good does the same thing and he goes to the line 14 times. Tell me the difference."

Tyrone Hill had 13 points and 14 rebounds for the Sixers, who have won three in a row and eight of 10. They are 4-2 since acquiring All-Star center Dikembe Mutombo, although he was not on the floor when the Sixers made their surge.

"Tyrone Hill just killed us on the boards," Scott said. "That was the difference."

The league-leading Sixers (45-16) dominated the boards, 41-28, and avenged a 96-89 loss at New Jersey on February 4 in which they blew a 15-point third-quarter lead.

"We have a bull's-eye," Hill said. "Every team that we play wants to play hard and wants to beat us. ... They feel if they can beat the No. 1 team twice in one year, that it shows you what kind of talent they have."

The Sixers trailed 79-75 entering the fourth quarter but began the period with a 10-4 run that Iverson capped with his go-ahead jumper. It was Philadelphia's first lead since 2-0.

Marbury answered with a layup for his final points and the teams traded a pair of points before Iverson made two free throws and a jumper that followed a dive to the floor that kept possession for the Sixers and gave them a 91-87 lead with 4:49 left.

"Allen made an unbelievable hustle play among a lot of great plays," Brown said. "Defensively, I thought he's improved a lot, but that was by far for a whole game his best defense. He played against a great player."

A free throw and dunk by Aaron Williams got the Nets within one before Iverson struck again. He came around a screen for a jumper and added two free throws for a 95-90 bulge with 2:57 to go.

Williams made two more free throws, but Mutombo powered for a three-point play after Hill kept possession with by hustling for a rebound. Iverson answered rookie Kenyon Martin's jumper with one of his own and Eric Snow's jumper sealed it at 102-94 with 35 seconds remaining.

"They were hitting some shots in the first half, but we kind of tightened it up in the second half and it was hard for them to make the shots they were making in the first half," Hill said.