76ers at Hawks
The Philadelphia 76ers are winners of six of their last seven games and got star center Joel Embiid back in the lineup in a win over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday. The 76ers are not the same team on the road and Embiid will try to give the team a spark as they begin a four-game trip by visiting the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday.
Embiid (hand) delivered 24 points and 10 rebounds in his return from a nine-game absence on Friday and got special permission to wear No. 24 on the floor in honor of departed Lakers star Kobe Bryant. "It was tough," Embiid told reporters. "Kobe meant something different than anybody else. It was tough, but I know just looking at his career and what he was about, that Mamba mentality, it was about outworking your opponent, outworking everybody else. I know he would want everybody to compete hard, play the game and try to win. ... That's how you honor him." The Hawks will try to stop Embiid and company with a leaky defense that allowed at least 130 points in three straight games. "The reality is we didn't change the game, defensively and physicality-wise, because we weren't making shots," Atlanta coach Lloyd Pierce told reporters after a 130-114 loss at Toronto on Tuesday. "We let our offense really dictate our energy and our tempo and our pace and our mood."
TIME: 7:30 p.m. ET. TV: NBCS Philadelphia, FS Southeast
ABOUT THE 76ERS (31-17): Philadelphia is 22-2 at home but owns a 9-15 record on the road and will face tough tests at Boston, Miami and Milwaukee on the trip after finishing up with the Hawks. Embiid's return helped the 76ers shoot 51.2 percent from the floor on Tuesday as six players scored in double figures, including all five starters. Al Horford, who was serving as center with Embiid out, moved back to the power forward spot on Tuesday and showed off his broad set of skills with 12 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in the 115-104 triumph.
ABOUT THE HAWKS (12-36): All-Star point guard Trae Young, who went through his own emotional game honoring Kobe Bryant with 45 points in a win over the Washington Wizards on Sunday, went for 18 points and 13 assists on Tuesday but was 5-of-13 from the floor, including 1-of-7 from beyond the arc. "It was just one of those nights," Young told reporters. "Sometimes your shot doesn't fall. ... Nights like that, sometimes, you've got to give them credit." Young is third in the NBA in scoring (29.2 points) and second in assists (nine per game) and handed out at least 13 assists in each of the last four contests.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Hawks SG DeAndre' Bembry (hand) sat out the last four games and is day-to-day along with C Alex Len (hip), who missed the last two contests.
2. 76ers PG Raul Neto scored a season-high 19 points in 21 minutes off the bench Tuesday.
3. Philadelphia pulled out a 105-103 victory at Atlanta on Oct. 28 behind 36 points and 13 rebounds from Embiid.