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Bibby, Crawford lead Atlanta to blowout win
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The Blitz: Chestatee at Gainesville

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PHILADELPHIA — Mike Bibby had a good feeling in warm-ups.

Even playing games on back-to-back nights, the 12-year veteran point guard said he was ready to play from the opening tip.

Jamal Crawford scored 11 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, Bibby added 21 and the Atlanta Hawks snapped a two-game losing streak with a 100-86 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night.

Josh Smith scored 20 and Al Horford had 15 for the Hawks, who responded with a road win one night after falling 93-76 to the Orlando Magic.

“To be honest, I was a little angry after (Thursday’s) game,” Bibby said. “Before this game, I felt fresh. I wanted to play again as soon as possible after that loss. We haven’t lost much this season. I carried it over into the game.”

Bibby hit his first five shots, including three 3-pointers, and also finished with five assists and four rebounds.

“He’s a real pro,” Hawks coach Mike Woodson said of Bibby.

Thaddeus Young scored 22 points, Andre Iguodala added 16 and Jason Smith had 14 for the struggling Sixers, who have dropped five in a row and seven of the past eight. Rodney Carney also had 13 off the bench.

Elton Brand missed his second consecutive game for Philadelphia with a sore right hamstring. This was in addition to missing guard Lou Williams (fractured jaw) and forward Marreese Speights, who is out until January with a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee.

“We just didn’t have enough scoring pieces to stay with them,” Sixers coach Eddie Jordan said.

Jason Smith started for Brand while rookie Jrue Holiday started his second game in place of Williams. Holiday was 1 for 8 from the field and had two points and five assists in 25 minutes.

“I remember being a rookie and what it was like,” Bibby said. “I thought Jrue played well, even though his shot wasn’t falling. He’s taller than I thought and he plays good defense.”

The Sixers allowed the Hawks to shoot 51 percent from the field and 9 of 18 on 3-pointers.

“We’re a little banged up, but we have to fight through it,” said Jason Smith, who tied his career high in points. “We’ll get better. We have to work through this stretch.”

The Hawks led 84-74 with 7:34 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Iguodala converted a difficult bank shot from the foul line to pull the Sixers within 88-82 with 4:59 left.

But Crawford and Smith followed with consecutive jumpers to quickly extend the lead back to 10 at 92-82 with 4:01 remaining.

The Sixers never threatened the rest of the game.

“I was glad to see us put the game away at the end,” Josh Smith said. “We didn’t let it get close at the end. That’s a sign of a team which is maturing all the time.”

After the Sixers jumped out to a 41-37 advantage, the Hawks finished the first half on a 9-0 run to take a 46-41 lead. Smith scored six of the nine points.
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