PHILADELPHIA – Chris Webber had 21 points and 10 rebounds and John Salmons added 18 points to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 91-76 win over the New York Knicks on Saturday night.

Allen Iverson, second in the NBA in scoring at 33.6 points per game, sat out with a sprained left ankle after he was injured in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s loss against Orlando. Iverson is day-to-day and might not make the trip to Orlando for Sunday’s game.

Samuel Dalembert had 15 rebounds and five blocked shots for the Sixers, who played with the kind of defensive toughness coach Maurice Cheeks has preached all season. The Sixers showed glimpses of it in a brief two-game streak last week only to revert to their old ways the last two games.

But they enjoyed a 51-37 rebounding edge for one of the few times this season, held the Knicks to only 35 percent shooting and allowed the fewest points scored against them this year. They won for the fourth time in five games.

Then again, they were playing the woeful Knicks.

Qyntel Woods scored 24 points and Stephon Marbury added 14 for New York, which lost for the seventh time in eight games.

Marbury’s 3-pointer pulled the Knicks to 79-71 late in the game after they had trailed by double digits since midway through the second quarter. Andre Iguodala, who scored 16 points, hit a 3 with 2 minutes left that pushed the lead back to 13 and Philadelphia hung on from there.

Instead of relying on Iverson to carry them, the Sixers got scoring from four different players during a game-changing 18-3 run late in the second quarter that opened up a 14-point lead.

Defense keyed the run, with the Sixers scoring nearly basket because of a rebound or a block. One Dalembert block of a Jackie Butler shot led to a Webber fastbreak dunk. One of Webber’s defensive rebounds was fed to Iguodala for another slam.

Philadelphia grabbed all but one rebound in the quarter and shot 62 percent from the floor to take a 53-39 halftime lead.

When Marbury, playing with a sore shoulder, had yet another shot blocked by Dalembert – the Sixers center snarled at the Knicks and showed a meanness that’s been missing this season.

Notes: Coach Larry Brown said Marbury will have to play through the pain of a shoulder injury. “If he gets hurt, it’s going to be painful for a while.” he said. … Cheeks said he knew Iverson was in pain to miss his first game of the year. “Allen is one of the few guys that can tolerate a lot of pain,” Cheeks said. “If Allen can’t play, you know he’s really, really hurt.” Kevin Ollie made his first start since 2004 in place of Iverson and scored six points in 37 minutes.

AP-ES-01-28-06 2236EST