Elton Brand scored a season-high 27 points, leading the host Philadelphia 76ers to a 104-89 victory against the struggling Washington Wizards last night in Tony DiLeo's coaching debut.

Philadelphia snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 10-14. Earlier yesterday, Maurice Cheeks was fired as coach of the 76ers, who were slumping badly a season after making the playoffs. DiLeo, the team's assistant general manager, was appointed coach for rest of the season.

Mike Bibby scored 24 points and Marvin Williams hit the clinching free throws in the Atlanta Hawks' 97-92 victory that snapped the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers' 11-game winning streak. LeBron James had 33 points for the Cavaliers.

• Allen Iverson scored 20 points, Rasheed Wallace hit a 3-pointer with 10.4 seconds left to avoid an embarrassing 29-point collapse, and the Detroit Pistons held off the host Charlotte Bobcats, 90-86.

• Carmelo Anthony had 27 points and nine rebounds as host Denver Nuggets beat the Golden State Warriors, 123-105.

• Dirk Nowitzki scored a season-high 46 points as the host Dallas Mavericks beat the Oklahoma City Thunder ,103-99,

Kenny Perry had eight birdies and an eagle and he and partner Scott Hoch finished with a 12-under 60 in the better-ball format at the second round of the Merrill Lynch Shootout at Naples, Fla. They hold a four-shot lead over J.B. Holmes and Boo Weekley.

• Annika Sorenstam shot a 3-over 75, hurting her chances of ending a stellar career by winning the Dubai Ladies Masters in United Arab Emirates for a third consecutive time. Sorenstam held a one-shot lead going into the third round but had four bogeys and one birdie to fall four shots behind leader Anja Monke of Germany. Monke shot 68 for a 9-under 207 total.

• South Africa's Thomas Aiken eagled the final hole for a course-record 11-under 61 and an 18-under 198 total to lead American Len Mattiace (68) by one stroke after the third round of the Alfred Dunhill Championship in Malelane, South Africa.

• Australia's Stephen Dartnell had a two-stroke lead in the Australian Open in Sydney after the completion of the rain-suspended second round. John Daly completed an even-par 72 to miss the cut for the third consecutive week on his three-tournament tour to Australia.

Mao Asada of Japan showed off her triple axel skills and Jeremy Abbott of the United States hit every jump, earning victories at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating finals in Goyang, South Korea.

Asada (188.55) defeat longtime rival Kim Yu-na (186.30) of South Korea.

Abbott breezed past Takahiko Kozuka of Japan for gold in his first Grand Prix final. Abbott earned 237.72 points, while Kozuka had 224.63 and American Johnny Weir finished third.

American Lindsey Vonn was disqualified for running off the course and Tanja Poutiainen of Finland won the giant slalom in La Molina, Spain, overtaking Vonn in the overall standings. Julia Mancuso of the United States finished 18th in the first women's World Cup event held in the Spanish Pyrenees.

Poutiainen won her eighth World Cup race, edging Manuela Moelgg of Italy by 0.02 seconds. Poutiainen had the fastest second run down the Cerdanya Catalunya course for a combined time of 2:16.76.

Undefeated Penn State overcame an early deficit and swept visiting California, 25-21, 25-21, 25-17, in the quarterfinals of the NCAA women's championship, extending the Nittany Lions' record winning streak. The Nittany Lions improved to 36-0, extended their record set winning streak to 109 and won their NCAA-record 62 consecutive match. Penn State advances to the national semifinal Thursday in Omaha, Neb., against either Washington or Nebraska.

Wladimir Klitschko (52-3, 46 KOs) defended his IBF heavyweight crown by stopping American Hasim Rahman (45-7-2) in the seventh round at SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany.