WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 (Ticker) -- Larry Hughes once was Allen Iverson's understudy. On Saturday, Hughes stole the spotlight from the superstar.

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Hughes scored a season-high 43 points and thoroughly outplayed Iverson as the Washington Wizards snapped a four-game losing streak with a 94-87 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

"A lot of Larry Hughes tonight. That's my man," Iverson said. "It was good to see him play the way he played. I just wish he wouldn't have did it tonight against us."

Hughes was drafted by the 76ers and spent 1½ seasons backing up Iverson before being traded to Golden State, where he blossomed as a starter. With the Wizards this season, he has shouldered the offense with guards Jerry Stackhouse and Gilbert Arenas sidelined by injuries.

Against his former team, Hughes fell one point shy of his career high, making 17-of-29 shots. He scored 28 points in the first half, when Washington took the lead for good, and fueled a third-quarter surge that pushed the margin to double digits.

"I felt good," Hughes said. "I've been working on my shot and trying to get a rhythm. I had a 5-for-23 that I had to get off my back. That kind of hurt me, so I wanted to come back and have a good show."

Hughes had two free throws and a jumper down the stretch that helped the Wizards hold on for their first win over the Sixers in the last seven meetings.

"We need him to shoot well," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. "We need everyone to shoot well. We can't rely on Larry to get us 43 every night."

Iverson scored just 15 points on 7-of-21 shooting, failing to get to the line and committing nine turnovers.

"I remember turning the ball over three or four times when they got easy layups," Iverson said. "Once you turn the ball over as much as we turned it over, it's hard to beat any team."

"We tried to play him within arm's reach, get hands on his shots and contest things," Hughes said. "We were going to try to keep him out of his lanes as much as possible, but we pretty much boxed him in."

Hughes had several remarkable bursts, scoring 12 straight Washington points in the first half and seven in an 11-2 run that gave the Wizards a 61-49 lead in the third quarter.

Eric Snow scored 10 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, helping Philadelphia rally within 82-77 with 2:54 to go. Hughes answered with two free throws.

A 3-pointer by Kyle Korver, who scored 13 points, cut the deficit to 88-85 with 1:10 left. But Hughes shook off Snow with a strong move and drilled a jumper with 52 seconds to play.

Kwame Brown had 14 points and 13 rebounds for Washington, which won its first game vs. an Atlantic Division opponent in 10 tries. Glenn Robinson scored 22 points for Philadelphia.

"We thought we could just show up and win," Snow said. "Guys didn't say it, but that's how we approached it and that's how we started out."