76ers 99, Hawks 80
PHILADELPHIA -- Evan Turner scored 21 points and Thaddeus Young had 18 points and 11 rebounds Friday night as the Philadelphia 76ers snapped a five-game losing streak with a 99-80 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
Jason Richardson added 17 points, his most in the last 11 games, for the Sixers (13-14). He also contributed eight rebounds and seven assists. Jrue Holiday, who returned after missing the previous four games with a sprained left foot, had 11 points and seven assists.
Josh Smith notched 17 points to lead Atlanta (15-9), which dropped its second in a row. Lou Williams, playing his first game in the Wells Fargo Center as a visiting player after spending his first seven NBA seasons with the Sixers, added 13 points.
The Sixers had allowed their opponents to score 106.8 points per game during their losing streak, on 49.5-percent shooting. But they limited the Hawks to their second-lowest total of the season, on 39.2-percent marksmanship.
Turner sprained his left ankle during Wednesday's loss in Houston and was limited to six points, his lowest total in 18 games and his third-lowest of the season. But he started Friday, and packed 10 of his points into the first 4:55 of the fourth quarter, when the Sixers stretched their lead from 72-64 to 88-69.
Spencer Hawes finished with 12 points for the Sixers. Kyle Korver had 11 for Atlanta.
Young scored 10 points in the first half, including a basket during an 8-0 late in the second quarter, as the Sixers snapped a 43-43 tie. Their lead was 51-45 at the half. Turner added nine points, Richardson eight and Holiday seven for the Sixers, who shot 53.7 percent in the half.
Smith led the Hawks with 13 points in the first two quarters.
The Sixers extended their lead to 72-56 late in the third period, turning 10 offensive boards into eight second-chance points in the quarter. But Williams reeled off eight straight points in the final 1:06 to cut the gap to 72-64.
Notes: Sixers center Andrew Bynum, who has yet to play this season because of bone bruises and weakened cartilage in both knees, was cleared to ramp up his rehabilitation after being examined by doctors Thursday, but he and general manager Tony DiLeo said before the game there remains no timetable for his return. "A lot depends on how Andrew reacts -- how his body reacts to the increased activity," said DiLeo, who added that Bynum will follow a six-stage process before making his comeback. Bynum first qualified the development as "a baby step" but later said, "The news is good, but we still have a ways to go." ... Earlier in the day, the Sixers sent rookie forward Arnett Moultrie to the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the Developmental League. ... The Sixers staged a video tribute to Williams on the scoreboard during the first quarter. "I created a lot of special memories here," he said before the game. "This place will always be a second home to me."
