Howard leads Hawks past 76ers
PHILADELPHIA -- Dwight Howard collected 22 points and 20 rebounds as the Atlanta Hawks held off the Philadelphia 76ers 99-92 on Wednesday night.
Kent Bazemore, playing his first game after missing the previous five with a bruised right knee, added 19 points for Atlanta. Tim Hardaway Jr. also had 19 for the Hawks, who won their second straight game to remain in fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
Ersan Ilyasova, playing his first game in Philadelphia since he was traded on Feb. 22, had 14 for the Hawks, all in the first half. Dennis Schroder contributed 14 as well.
Atlanta (39-36) led for all but the first few minutes, but the Sixers used an 11-2 run to cut the gap to 83-81 with 8:21 left.
With the Atlanta lead at 88-84 a few minutes later, Schroder triggered a 7-2 run with a layup. That left Atlanta ahead 95-86 with 1:44 to play.
Richaun Holmes scored a career-high 25 points to pace the Sixers, who lost for the second time in three games. Dario Saric added 15 but shot 5 of 18 from the floor.
Both teams were short-handed.
The Hawks were without Paul Millsap, their leading scorer, for the seventh straight game because of a sore left knee. Thabo Sefolosha missed his third straight with a strained groin.
The Sixers (28-47) had nine healthy players for the second consecutive game. Jahlil Okafor sat out his fourth straight, and his fifth in the last six, with a sore right knee. Sergio Rodriguez missed his second in a row with a strained left hamstring, and will not be evaluated until next week.
Robert Covington was also unavailable after injuring his right knee in Tuesday's victory at Brooklyn.
Ilysova scored nine straight Atlanta points in one first-quarter stretch and finished the period with 12, helping the Hawks to a 25-18 lead by the end of the period.
By halftime the Hawks were up 52-43. Besides Ilyasova's 14 points in the first 24 minutes, Howard contributed 13, along with 10 rebounds, and Bazemore scored 11.
Saric and Holmes had 10 first-half points for Philadelphia. The Sixers missed 14 of 20 3-point attempts, while the Hawks went 7 of 11 from the arc. Bazemore made all three of his attempts, and Ilyasova was 2-for-2.
The Sixers crept within four, 74-70, late in the third quarter, but Dennis Schroder converted a layup and Bazemore tacked on a three-point play with 4.3 seconds left.
Hardaway then opened the fourth-quarter scoring with a jumper, giving the Hawks an 81-70 cushion, but the Sixers responded with their 11-2 spurt, which included four points by Holmes and three by Saric.
NOTES: Sixers C Tiago Splitter, acquired from Atlanta on Feb. 22, dressed but did not play. He appeared in his first game since Jan. 31, 2016, after undergoing hip surgery last February. He was also plagued by calf problems. ... Philadelphia F Robert Covington underwent an MRI on his right knee earlier in the day, but a team spokesman said the results were not yet known. ... Sixers G Gerald Henderson returned after missing Tuesday's game in Brooklyn with a sore hip. He scored five points off the bench. ... The Sixers, 10-72 a year ago, are on pace to triple their victory total. "This group has exceeded expectations all over the place," coach Brett Brown said ... Brown also praised Atlanta F Ersan Ilyasova, an ex-Sixer. "He was a complete, serious pro -- ruthless in his own preparation," Brown said. "He taught more by example than through voice."