Philadelphia 108; Seattle 99

SEATTLE, March 8 (UPI) -- Allen Iverson scored 40 points for the third time this season Friday night to lead Philadelphia to a 108-99 win over Seattle.

The 76ers now have won 11 of their last 12 games.

Iverson, a three-time scoring champion, has scored 40 or more points in the regular season 45 times in his career. This was his second one against Seattle, which he also victimized for 41 on Jan. 5, 2001.

The plateau once was a bad sign as Philadelphia lost nine of the first 10 games in which Iverson reached 40 points. However, the Sixers have won the last 11 such games and are 29-16 all-time when their superstar scores 40 points.

He made 15-of-27 shots, made 8-of-8 free throws, and added four assists and three steals without a turnover as he and his team continued their outstanding all-around play.

"I don't really get into whether I play bad or not because I always give the effort," Iverson said. "You're not always going to play great every night, but as long as you play hard and try to do the best you can, you can look in the mirror at the end of the day."

"I've been saying he's had his best year since I've been around him," said Sixers Coach Larry Brown. "He's had to do a lot of stuff because we've been banged up and it puts a lot of undue pressure on him. He seems real confident now, and all the players around him are playing good."

Keith Van Horn scored 26 points for the Sixers, despite taking stitches in his chin. Philadelphia improved to 3-1 on their five-game road trip, which concludes Sunday against the Lakers in Los Angeles.

"We wanted to come out of this road trip above .500, and we're on our way," said guard Aaron McKie. "The best thing to do would be to come out of this road trip with a win."

Ray Allen scored 24 points to lead the Sonics, but hit just 8-of-23 shooting.

"We couldn't stop their penetration," said Seattle Coach Nate McMillan. "All night long they were in our paint with either Snow or Iverson. They were breaking our defense down."

Vladimir Radmanovic scored 20 points and Brent Barry added 12 for the Sonics, who shot 47 percent (34-of-72), including 13-of-23 from three-point range.

The Sonics had a six-game home winning streak snapped.