Hawks rally to beat Sixers

Basketball Betting Lines

11/01/2008 - Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Johnson scored 35 points and hit a key three-pointer late, as the Atlanta Hawks overcame a 23-point deficit to notch a 95-88 win over the Philadelphia 76ers in their home opener.

Josh Smith added 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Mike Bibby added 19 points for the Hawks, who remain undefeated this season after winning their season-opener on Wednesday at Orlando.

Atlanta ended the game on a 17-4 run over the final 6:30.

Thaddeus Young tied a career high with 22 points for Philadelphia, while Elton Brand notched his third double-double this season with 17 points and 16 boards.

Andre Iguodala had 16 points for the Sixers, whose starting five all reached double-digit scoring, but have lost two of three to start the season.

Atlanta entered the fourth quarter down by nine points, but quickly got back in the game and started its game-ending run on a Smith jumper, which Zaza Pachulia followed with a short shot of his own.

Johnson's jumper with four minutes left tied the game at 84-84 before Brand sank a shot to put the Sixers back ahead -- the only Philadelphia field goal in the game's final 6:57.

Johnson tied the game with a pair of field goals, then after a series of missed shots, dunked with 1:53 on the clock to give the Hawks their first lead of the contest.

Samuel Dalembert was then fouled and sank both free throws for the Sixers, but their defense broke down on the next possession and allowed Ronald Murray to drive through the paint for a finger-roll layup with 1:21 left and a 90-88 Atlanta lead.

Brand missed badly on his next attempt and Atlanta's Al Horford got the rebound, but stepped out of bounds. However, Iguodala traveled, giving Atlanta the ball back.

Johnson, though, obtained the ball and, after Young fell down, stepped back and drilled a three from about six feet behind the arc. The field goal gave the Hawks a 93-88 advantage, and they cruised to the win from there.

The Sixers built up a big first-quarter lead thanks to a 14-2 run. Young helped start it with a couple of three-pointers that sandwiched an Andre Miller jumper. Young later added a layup and Brand capped the surge with a pair of free throws to make it a 31-14 game.

Philadelphia took a 34-18 advantage into the second quarter, and boosted the lead to 44-21 after an Iguodala jumper midway through the stanza. Atlanta trimmed its deficit a bit from there, but a Brand jumper gave the Sixers a 57-44 lead at halftime.

The Sixers still held a double-digit lead in the third quarter, but Atlanta chipped away more and got its deficit under 10. Smith and Johnson made back- to-back shots to bring the Hawks within 64-57 with 6:18 left in the third.

The teams traded baskets until the end of the quarter, when a Murray jumper brought Atlanta within 75-66.

The Hawks quickly made up more of the deficit at the start of the fourth when Smith made a three and followed with a basket for a 75-71 contest.

Philadelphia boosted its lead when Young made a three-pointer and Miller provided a layup, but Atlanta got within a basket with seven straight points. A Smith layup, Pachulia jumper and Smith three brought the Hawks within 80-78 with 7:43 remaining.

Game Notes

Dalembert finished with 12 points and 11 boards, while Miller had 11 points and eight assists for Philadelphia. The Sixers bench provided just 10 points...Atlanta won three of four meetings last season...Young scored 22 in a March 9 game against Milwaukee last season.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch

Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.

Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.

"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."

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