The Sixers reveled in a 96-84 victory that gave them a three-game winning streak and at least some modest momentum going into tonight's game against the visiting Boston Celtics. Still sitting at No. 6 in the NBA East playoff seedings with 24 games remaining, they need every bit of that momentum as they attempt a stretch-run push for any amount of homecourt advantage they can muster.

It would be easy to say they handled the Raptors on the strength of Iverson's 42-point burst, making him the first player in the league this season to generate back-to-back 40-point-plus performances with one as a reserve and one as a starter. He was back in the lineup yesterday after sitting out the start of Friday night's victory over New Jersey becaue he arrived late for the morning shootaround.

Iverson, Carter and Washington's Michael Jordan are the only players in the league with back-to-back 40-point performances this season; Iverson and Jordan are the only ones to have done it twice, and Iverson is the only one currently in position to go for three in a row.

But there was much more to this victory. As spectacular as Iverson was, shooting 16-for-37 from the floor, dropping in all 10 of his free throws and coming up with five steals, the rest of the Sixers knocked down 20 of 33 shots. Derrick Coleman played powerfully inside, putting together 18 points and 13 rebounds. Speedy Claxton offered one of his better floor games, with eight points, two assists and two steals. And point guard Eric Snow dug in mightily against Carter, helping limit him to 12 points on 3-for-10 shooting.

"We're moving up,'' center Dikembe Mutombo said gleefully, despite the ignominy of having inadvertently caught Snow across the left eyelid in the third quarter, opening a cut that required three postgame stitches.

The Raptors' wounds, though, go much deeper. Their longest losing streak of the season stretched to a painful 11 games, their home losing streak increased to eight. And Carter, their best player, was nowhere near his usual, explosive self, even sitting out a 5-minute, 15-second chunk of the fourth quarter. When he came back, he committed three turnovers, two of them transformed into steals by Iverson.

"Philadelphia never let us get any momentum, and that is the mark of a good team,'' said Carter, aware that the Raptors trailed by as many as 18 points. "I couldn't do anything on the offensive end, whether it was an open shot, a free throw, anything. It's hard to cope with when the team is in this situation. I think I was out there trying too much.''