PHILADELPHIA (AP)—Lou Williams scored 17 points, and Andre Iguodala(notes) and
Thaddeus Young(notes) each had 16 to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to 105-100 win over
the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night.
The Sixers opened the fourth quarter on a 25-6 run to send the Hawks to
their second demoralizing loss in two nights. The Bulls won in Atlanta 114-81 on
Tuesday night.
Williams and Young keyed the Sixers’ rally off the bench in the fourth.
Philadelphia was down 10 late in the third quarter before an 11-0 run early in
the fourth fueled the comeback.
Josh Smith(notes) had 33 points and 12 rebounds for the slumping Hawks. Smith’s
3-pointer with 1.6 seconds left pulled the Hawks within three.
Iguodala hit two free throws to clinch the win.
The Hawks lost for the 14th time in 21 games. The Sixers moved 2 1/2 games
behind the Hawks for fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
Coach Larry Drew bluntly called his team “a little fragile right now”
before tipoff and admitted he needed the Hawks to play harder down the stretch.
“There are times where we need to see what people are made of,” he said.
The Hawks started strong and showed no sign of any carry-over from the
crushing defeat to the Bulls. They outscored the 76ers 14-0 on fastbreak points
in the first half and led by six at the break. Atlanta stretched the lead to
77-66 late in the third before the game slipped away.
Jrue Holiday(notes) and Williams hit 3-pointers in the final minutes to close
within six. Williams and Young got rolling in the fourth and scored six points
during the 11-0 run. Andres Nocioni’s(notes) driving layup during the spurt put the
Sixers up 81-80 and they never looked back.
Jodie Meeks(notes) buried a 3 for a 99-86 lead—Philadelphia’s biggest of the
game.
Meeks had 15 points, Holiday 12 and seven Sixers were in double figures.
Elton Brand(notes) had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Marvin Williams(notes) and Kirk Hinrich(notes) each scored 16 points for the Hawks.
Notes: The Sixers are 22-7 at home after a 1-4 start. … Hawks C Al Horford(notes)
scored eight points in 37 minutes. He left the Bulls game with a strained
hamstring. … 76ers coach Doug Collins has been pleased with his team’s effort
in his first year as coach. “I think I can count on one hand the clunkers we’ve
had this year.”
