Sixers make franchise history with 15th straight win

Share

BOX SCORE

The Sixers, one of the NBA’s most storied franchises, experienced a first on Tuesday.

Their testy 121-113 win over the Atlanta Hawks marked the team’s 15th straight victory, a single-season record for the franchise.

The win moved the Sixers' record to 51-30 to stay ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference (see standings). The Hawks ended their season with a 24-58 mark.

• Things didn’t start off well for the Sixers as Dario Saric went down on the first possession of the game. Saric attempted to break up a pass at the rim and was hit in the face by John Collins. He suffered a lacerated upper lip and a chipped left front tooth and did not return to action. The second-year forward was still regaining his footing after missing three games earlier this month with right elbow cellulitis.

• Saric wasn’t the only Sixer to get banged up in this one. T.J. McConnell went to the bench after being on the receiving end of a hard screen from former Sixer Dewayne Dedmon. The point guard returned to the lineup a short time later.

• Ben Simmons was questionable entering Tuesday’s game with an illness. He decided to suit up anyway and the rookie ended up having a bit of an eventful night. Simmons finished the game with 14 points, 10 rebounds six assists, two steals, one block and six turnovers. He also fouled out for the first time in his career and appeared frustrated at several points throughout the night. Things got so heated for Simmons in the third quarter that he even picked up a technical foul, which made him briefly walk away from the bench to get himself together.

• Still without Joel Embiid, the Sixers maintained their balanced attack on offense. Five different players scored in double figures with JJ Redick (28 points, five assists, four rebounds), Ersan Ilyasova (26 points, eight rebounds) and Marco Belinelli (20 points, four rebounds) leading the way.

• Amir Johnson had his best game as a Sixer with 15 points (7 for 9 shooting), eight boards and five assists.

• Atlanta was led by Taurean Prince (27 points, six assists, four rebounds).

• It’s still strange to see how far the Hawks have fallen in a short amount of time. They finished the 2014-15 season as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference with 60 wins behind a starting five of Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver, DeMarre Carroll, Paul Millsap and Al Horford. All of those players are now with other franchises and Atlanta is headed to the draft lottery for the first time in 11 years.

• Up next: The Sixers finish off the regular season with the second half of a back-to-back set at home against the Milwaukee Bucks (8 p.m./NBCSP+).

Contact Us