Field Level Media
Jan 11, 2019
John Collins hit the go-ahead jumper with 9.5 seconds remaining to lift the visiting Atlanta Hawks past the Philadelphia 76ers 123-121 on Friday night.
Kevin Huerter led the Hawks with a career-high 29 points, Collins added 25, and Dewayne Dedmon had 19. Rookie Trae Young scored 18 points.
The Hawks played short-handed with key players such as Kent Bazemore, Miles Plumlee and Taurean Prince out.
Jimmy Butler paced the Sixers with 30 points, but he missed a pair of free throws with 2.4 seconds remaining after making his first 12. Wilson Chandler also missed a potential tying basket on a tip-in at the buzzer.
Philadelphia's Ben Simmons recorded his seventh triple-double of the season with 23 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds. JJ Redick scored 20 points.
The Sixers played without All-Star center Joel Embiid, who tried to warm up with a sore left ankle but couldn't compete.
Philadelphia fell to 18-4 at home.
Butler scored 16 points in the first half, and the Sixers held a 56-54 advantage at the break. The Hawks stayed close thanks to Collins' 12 points and Dedmon's 11, which included hitting all three of his 3-point shots.
After the game was tied for the 15th time, the Hawks began to pull away with a 6-0 run to go ahead 72-66 with 7:05 left in the third quarter.
The game grew chippy as Alex Len was called for a flagrant-1 foul for committing a hard foul against Butler with 2:19 remaining in the third. After the foul, T.J. McConnell dragged a frustrated Butler away from Len.
After the Hawks went ahead 98-92, Butler responded with a three-point play with 9:02 left in the fourth. Less than two minutes later, Redick drained a trey from the wing to tie the game once again at 103-103 with 7:20 remaining.
Philadelphia's Mike Muscala knocked down a 3-pointer, his fourth of the game, to even the game again at 116-116 with 3:20 remaining.
Butler's tough layup with 1:16 left put the Sixers back ahead 121-118. But Huerter came right back and hit a deep 3-pointer to tie the game at 121 with 53.6 seconds to go, ultimately setting up Collins for his heroics.
--Field Level Media