76ers 117, Hawks 83
Elton Brand continued his excellent play by scoring 11 of his 17 points in the decisive first quarter as the Philadelphia 76ers snapped the host Atlanta Hawks’ three-game winning streak with a 117-83 victory Tuesday.
Lou Williams scored 20 points and Andre Iguodala had 11 and eight assists for the Sixers, who have won seven of nine and are 21-14 since a 3-13 start. Philadelphia will see just how far it has come with home games against Orlando on Wednesday and San Antonio on Friday.
Josh Smith scored 16 points for the Hawks, who played a second straight game without center Al Horford because of a back injury. The All-Star had a pair of double-doubles in the first two games against Philadelphia this season – both wins.
Philadelphia jumped to an early 10-2 lead and was never threatened. Jrue Holiday joined in the fun with eight points and Iguodala handed out four assists as the Sixers led by as much as 20 in the first quarter.
Brand, who set consecutive season highs in points with 28 and 33 in a home-and-home series with New York, shot 5-of-6 from the floor in 28 minutes. He entered shooting 60.4 percent (58-of-96) in his last seven contests, averaging 20.3 points.
Two buckets by Williams during an 8-0 run pushed the bulge to 50-23 midway through the second quarter and an 11-4 closing run made it 65-33 at the break. The Sixers shot 64.3 percent (27-of-42) in the first half and nearly 55 percent (43-of-79) for the game.
The points allowed and scored in the first 24 minutes were season lows for Atlanta.