The Battle of the Little Men - Allen Iverson vs Earl Boykins (2003) Game 2

An impressive road victory was in danger of slipping away for the Golden State Warriors until Earl Boykins stepped in.
Boykins scored 10 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter and grabbed an important offensive rebound in the final minute as the Warriors withstood a strong comeback to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 102-98 Friday night.
Antawn Jamison had 26 of his 30 points in the first half as Golden State ran out to a 23-point halftime lead, and Gilbert Arenas helped the Warriors close the deal with five points over the final 1:26. Boykins and Arenas combined for all 15 of Golden State's fourth-quarter points.
"I've played well in the fourth quarter all year,'' said Boykins, who comes off the bench. "It's the most important part of the game.''
Iverson had 28 points and 10 assists to lead the 76ers, who have lost two in a row at home. Kenny Thomas added a season-high 18 rebounds and Keith Van Horn had 18 points.
Down the stretch, Boykins took advantage of Allen Iverson, who had five fouls.
"Iverson is a great player, the best guard in the league,'' Boykins said. "He's either going to run you over or you have to go right at him.''
The Sixers fell 1{ games behind New Jersey for first place in the Atlantic Division; the Nets beat New York.
The Warriors are 2-1 on their five-game road trip. The team has 36 wins, more than any season since 1995-96.
A 3-pointer by Van Horn pulled Philadelphia to 100-98 with 1:18 to go, but Boykins grabbed an offensive rebound and Arenas drove to the basket with 17.7 seconds left to put the Warriors ahead 102-98.
"You get down like that, then you have to fight too hard to get back in the game and you can't finish it off,'' Iverson said. "When you have to come back like that, then at the end of the game everything has to go perfectly. It doesn't work that way in the NBA.''
With the Warriors clinging to a two-point lead in the fourth quarter, Boykins scored all six points in a 6-2 run to extend the lead to six with 2:20 left. Thomas and Aaron McKie followed with back-to-back layups, but a 3-pointer by Arenas made it 100-95 with 1:26 remaining.
The 76ers started the fourth quarter on a 10-2 run, and a tap-in by Thomas made it 89-85 with 7:12 left. Boykins made two free throws, but Thomas and McKie each made layups to pull Philadelphia to 91-89 with 5:12 left.
Arenas made the first basket of the third quarter to give Golden State a 25-point lead, its biggest of the game. The Sixers cut it to 87-75 after three quarters as Iverson scored 10 points in the final six minutes, to go with three assists and two steals.
"In the second half, we didn't hit shots and they were coming down and hitting everything they missed in the first half,'' Arenas said. "But we hit big shots at the end of the game.''
Game notes
The Warriors scored 15 of the last 19 points of the second quarter to open up a 66-43 lead at halftime. During that stretch, the Warriors made seven free throws, thanks in part to three Philadelphia technicals, and four fastbreak baskets off five straight turnovers. ... Golden State's 66 points were the most given up in a half by the Sixers this season. ... Jamison had 10 rebounds.