The 76ers’ other A.I. gave another All-Star performance.

Allen Iverson scored 29 points and had 12 assists, Andre Iguodala had 25 points, and Chris Webber had 24 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 116-107 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.

Coming off an eventful All-Star weekend where he was named MVP of the Rookie Challenge and finished second in the slam dunk contest, Iguodala played with a rarely displayed aggressiveness and looked like he might deserve to play in the main event one day.

“If that didn’t let him know this weekend that he can be a great player in this league, then nothing will,'’ Iverson said. “But I think he got the message.'’

The Sixers are surely counting on Iguodala to reach that level. He dunked, of course, but came through with a 3-pointer and a couple more outside shots to finish 9-for-15 from the floor and a point shy of matching his career high.

“I think I stepped my game up this year from last year, but I feel there’s a lot more I can do as well,'’ said Iguodala, who averaged 11.9 points. “I’m attacking a little bit more.'’

LeBron James - the All-Star game MVP - finished with 33 points. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 27 points and Donyell Marshall 16.

The Cavaliers were coming off a 105-92 win over Orlando on Tuesday night and missed a chance to move 12 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 1997-98 season.

The Sixers beat Cleveland for the 22nd time in the 26 games.

“They’ve given us trouble, no doubt about it,'’ James said. “This is the team that’s given us the most trouble thus far.'’

Trailing by double digits most of the second half, Marshall hit a 3 that got the Cavaliers within eight late in the game. He added two free throws and James sank one to cut it to 110-105 with 2:07 left.

Iguodala came up with a nifty defensive play, hustling to chase down a loose ball at midcourt that set up an Iverson jumper that pushed the lead back to seven.

“It was just a play that got us an extra opportunity to score,'’ Iguodala said.

The play also rallied the Sixers. John Salmons added a basket and Iverson sank a couple of free throws to help them hold on to win for only the fourth time in 10 games.

“We didn’t get into playing their game,'’ James said. “They got some easy buckets, got up big, and we wasted our energy coming back. Once we got back, we had no more energy.'’

The Sixers played for the first time since the All-Star break and first time since their most lopsided loss of the season, 117-84 to Chicago last Thursday.

Nearly one year to the day of Webber arriving from Sacramento in a trade, he enjoyed one of his finest games of the season, making 10 of 16 shots from the floor. Regarded as one of the best passers at his position, he fed Kyle Korver on a sharp bounce pass for a layup that gave the Sixers a 10-point lead early in the fourth. Webber also made a smart play when he slammed a ball off a Cavs’ leg to help the Sixers gain possession late in the game.

James didn’t score his first basket until there was 3:30 left in the first quarter, then he got rolling. His 3-pointer that opened the fourth made it 87-84 and he sank a couple of baskets that allowed the Cavs to hang around for most of the rest of the quarter.

The Sixers built a 17-point lead by the middle of the third on the strength of 20-point efforts from Webber and Iverson. The Cavaliers went on a 20-10 run in the last 5:12 and pulled to 87-80 at the end of the quarter.

Last season’s second-half collapse by Cleveland is still fresh in LeBron James’ mind.

The All-Star game MVP is determined not to let it happen again.

James hit only four of his first 17 shots but finished with 26 points to lead Cleveland to a 105-92 victory over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night - moving the Cavaliers 11 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 1997-98 season.

“This is a great way to come out of the break,'’ James said. “It is very important to not have another lapse.'’

A year ago, the Cavaliers also won their first game after the All-Star break - then lost six in a row, went on a 9-19 tailspin, and missed the playoffs by one game.

Orlando is in a worse decline now. Dwight Howard had 23 points and 14 rebounds for the Magic, which lost its seventh straight and 11th of 12. Orlando plays six of its next eight on the road.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 24 points and 13 rebounds, Sasha Pavlovic a career-high 21 points and Drew Gooden 15 points and 11 rebounds for Cleveland.

But it was James who keyed Cleveland’s third straight win. He hit six consecutive shots late until missing a meaningless attempt in the final seconds.

“Drew was huge and ‘Z’ had a great game,'’ Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. “Then the Magic made a run and we gave the ball to our guy, our MVP, and he closed the deal.'’

Orlando cut an 18-point deficit to 97-90 with 2:45 remaining.

James responded with six straight points in 1:16 to make it 103-90.

“He made three tough shots and that’s what great players do - make great plays when the game is on the line,'’ Magic guard Steve Francis said.

Two days after becoming the youngest All-Star game MVP in history, James brought the sellout crowd of 20,562 to its feet with several dazzling behind-the-back passes and one 45-foot shot that went in but didn’t count.

Fans chanted “M-V-P, M-V-P,'’ midway through the third quarter when they thought their hero was robbed of a 3-pointer from near midcourt.

With Magic forward Hedo Turkoglu lying injured along the baseline, Orlando players went to foul James to stop the clock. James, one step over the midcourt line, banked in a shot officials ruled off, not allowing the continuation play.

Turkoglu sprained his left ankle. X-rays were negative. He will have an MRI exam Wednesday and is doubtful for the Magic’s game in New Jersey.

Francis, the key figure in a rumored multiplayer trade with the New York Knicks, scored 13 points in 27 minutes.

“I don’t know anything about trades right now,'’ Magic coach Brian Hill said. “It’s all talk, there’s nothing that I’m aware of that we have on the table.'’

Francis is aware of the speculation that cropped up after he was suspended two games last month for refusing to re-enter a blowout loss.

“They’ve been speculating for a long time,'’ he said. “If it happens, it happens. I can’t control it. I have to go out and play every night.'’

Hill said Darko Milicic, the No. 2 pick behind James in the 2003 draft acquired Feb. 15 with guard Carlos Arroyo from Detroit, will be given an opportunity to play - but only after the third-year center learns the system.

Milicic had two points in four minutes and Arroyo was scoreless in five minutes.

“I’m happy to get another chance to play, to see what I can do,'’ said Milicic. “In Detroit, it was horrible for me. A nightmare.'’

James had three shots rattle in and out early, but still made an impact in the first half. In a 20-second span, he threw a crisp pass that Pavlovic turned into a 3-pointer, stole the ball near midcourt and went in for a breakaway reverse slam. That sparked Cleveland on an 8-0 run for a 44-34 lead.

LeBron James and the streaking Cleveland Cavaliers spoiled the highest-scoring game by a Celtics’ player in more than 16 years.

James had 43 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for his fourth triple-double of the season and the Cavaliers overcame Paul Pierce’s 50-point performance to beat the Celtics 113-109 in double overtime on Wednesday night.

Drew Gooden added 19 points and 11 rebounds and Damon Jones had 13 points for Cleveland.

Pierce shot 17-for-36 from the field and 16-for-20 from the free-throw line to become the first Celtic to score 50 since Larry Bird had 50 on Nov. 10, 1989.

“I really got into a groove in the second half,'’ Pierce said. “Guys were getting the ball to me. It felt good to me. You know, it would have felt a lot better if we would have been on the other side, but it was just a great game to be a part.'’

Cleveland (31-21) matched its 52-game record from last year. While the Cavaliers closed last season 11-19 and missed the playoffs, this year’s team enters the All-Star break in second place in the Central Division.

Cleveland coach Mike Brown said this is a game the Cavaliers would have lost last year.

“We’re not a good road team and so any way we can win on the road, we’ll take it,'’ Brown said. “It was a character win because we could have folded.'’

The Celtics trailed by as many as 13, but Pierce scored 31 points after the first half to keep the game close before fouling out with a minute remaining in the second overtime. Boston (20-32) lost its seventh game in nine tries.

James, coming off a 44-point performance against San Antonio on Monday night, drew Pierce’s final foul with 1:00 remaining and made 1-of-2 free throws to put the Cavaliers up 109-107.

On Cleveland’s next possession, James sealed the game with a layup in traffic.

“We just made the big play at the end,'’ James said. “We just willed a way to win. This was one of the wildest games, especially on the road. But I love it. Being on the road, you got the fans against you and we found a way to win. It was awesome.'’

Wally Szczerbiak scored 17 points and Delonte West added 15 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Celtics.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 14 points for Cleveland, but missed a pair of free throws with 7.1 seconds remaining in regulation that would have iced the game.

Following Ilgauskas’ misses, Pierce drew a foul on James with 0.2 seconds remaining and hit both free throws to send the game into overtime.

Cleveland was just 25-of-40 from the free-throw line.

“It was a winnable game,'’ West said. “This one is tough to swallow.'’

After a pair of Ryan Gomes layups gave the Celtics a 90-88 lead with 1:54 remaining, James hit a layup in traffic to tie the game.

James then deflected a pass to Pierce, raced down the floor, received an Eric Snow pass at the free-throw line and threw down a slam dunk over West to put the Cavaliers up 92-90 with 1:23 left.

Damon Jones made 1-of-2 free throws with 26.4 seconds remaining and James blocked a West 3-point attempt in the closing seconds.

James was outscored by Pierce 17-6 in the fourth quarter and missed a potential game-winning layup in the closing seconds of the first overtime before redeeming himself in the second overtime.

“This is a team win, but it goes back to LeBron James coming up big for us,'’ Brown said. “He’s a heck of a player and he definitely helped us get this win tonight.'’