Atlanta Hawks extend win-streak to eight, defeat Sixers 95-79

By E. Marcel Pourtout, Editor

The Atlanta Hawks extended their winning streak to eight games with a 95-79 home win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night at Philips Arena.

The last time Atlanta (15-6) won eight straight games was in the 1997 season when the Hawks produced an 11-game winning streak.

Paul Millsap and Kyle Korver each scored a game-high 17 points for Atlanta while DeMarre Carroll noted a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Al Horford (11 points) and Mike Muscala (12 points) also reached double-figures in scoring for the Hawks.

Atlanta shot 41.8 percent from the field, converting 10 out of 30 three-pointer attempts. The Hawks outrebounded the Sixers 52-39 in the victory.

“There was a little bit of consistency in our effort defensively,” Hawks’ head coach Mike Budenholzer said. We found a way to score enough points offensively. Taking away the paint was something that was important and controlling our turnovers. We were good enough to get the win. We need to get better.”

Alexey Shved had a team-high 13 points off the bench for Philadelphia (2-19), who never held a lead in the contest. Luc Mbah a Moute scored 12 points for the Sixers while Michael Carter-Williams had a game-high nine assists along with a team-high 10 rebounds and nine points.

The Hawks led 25-21 after the first quarter. Atlanta continued it strong play through the second quarter, taking a 47-38 lead into halftime.

Korver had a game-high 11 points at the half while Carroll had six for the Hawks. Atlanta shot 39 percent from the field, making only six of 22 three-point attempts in the first half.

Mbah a Moute had a team-high nine points at halftime for Philadelphia. Overall, the Sixers shot 45 percent from the field through the first two quarters.

Atlanta extended its lead to as much as 21 points in the second half, outscoring Philadelphia 48-41 over the final two quarters.