It all came full circle Monday night in Atlanta. The Hawks, who started Philadelphia’s previous losing streak of 26 games, put the 76ers back in the loss column again. The 103-95 win for them was much closer than that loss in January that was a start of a bad two months, though.
Leading the way for Chicago, who is barely clinging to the East’s final playoff spot, was former Sixer Lou Williams. As he so often did for Philadelphia, especially in his later years, Williams was a spark off the bench for the Hawks. His 22 points helped them maintain the one-game lead for the eighth seed over New York.
Paul Millsap led all scorers with 28 points, as he gave Thaddeus Young trouble. He was a force on the boards as well, controlling 17 rebounds.
Philadelphia actually raced out to a 13-point lead to start the game. After Eliot Williams’ three to close the first quarter, the 76ers were in front 31-18. That lead was short-lived, however, as the Hawks followed with a 7-0 spurt to cut the lead. The Sixers did build it back up, though, and went into the half ahead by ten points.
But, as Kyle Korver said, the Hawks realized what was on the line and rallied against their inferior opponent. Out of the gate of the intermission, Korver started the half off with a three only 12 seconds in. After Millsap gathered a rebound, he too drained a three 40 seconds later. Before a full minute of the half was played, the Hawks cut a 10 point lead down to just 4.
"We all kind of looked at each other," Korver said. "We all know what's on the line."
A 7-0 Hawks run to end the third took a two-point lead. Philadelphia did fight back and reclaim the lead with 5:48 remaining at 85-84, and again 92-89 with three minutes left. The Hawks followed with a 14-3 run to close the game and snap their six game losing streak.
