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Sixers thump Hawks

Apr 6, 2013 - 3:08 AM Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - Evan Turner, Thaddeus Young and Spencer Hawes each turned in double-doubles as the Philadelphia 76ers cruised past the Atlanta Hawks, 101-90, at Philips Arena.

Turner finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds, Hawes scored 19 and pulled down 12 boards and Young netted 14 to go with 13 rebounds for the 76ers, who kept their slim playoff hopes alive.

Philadelphia trails the Milwaukee Bucks by five games for the final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Bucks lost on the road to the New York Knicks Friday night.

"We found a way to close this one out. It wasn't pretty there at the end, but that is a really good road win for us against a playoff team, Sixers coach Doug Collins said. "The Hawks are a tough team to play because they can go with a couple different lineups."

Josh Smith led five Atlanta players in double figures with 19 points and Al Horford added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawks, who hold a 2 1/2- game lead over the Boston Celtics for sixth place in the East.

Boston lost at home to the Cleveland Cavaliers Friday.

The Sixers shot a blistering 72.7 percent (16-for-22) in the first quarter to jump out to an early 40-26 lead. Turner scored 10 points in the frame on 4-of-5 shooting, 2-of-2 from 3-point range, while Young and Hawes added eight and seven points, respectively, in the frame.

The Sixers used a 14-2 spurt in the opening quarter to open a 24-13 lead. Turner hit a 3-pointer during the spurt and finished it by draining a jumper. The flurry began with Hawes hitting a 3-pointer.

Philadelphia cooled off significantly in the second, going just 6-for-20 in the frame, but took a 58-45 lead into the break.

The Sixers outscored the Hawks 25-20 in the third to push their spread to 83-65 entering the final frame. Turner turned in another strong quarter with 10 points.

Atlanta couldn't get closer than nine the rest of the way.

"Here we are 77 games into our season and we don't know who we are. All the way back to training camp, and with all the changes that we made, one of the things we made a point to our guys to understand was who we had to be," hawks coach Larry Drew said. "We had a team that would be gritty. We had to be a team with a blue collar mentality every time we stepped on the floor. Somewhere along the line we have forgotten who we have to be."

Game Notes

Philadelphia forward Dorell Wright was inactive because of a right elbow contusion ... Damien Wilikins scored 16 points for the Sixers ... Jrue Holiday, who went just 2-for-24 from the field in a loss at Charlotte on Wednesday, converted on just 3-of-14 attempts for nine points ... Ivan Johnson scored 17 points off the bench for Atlanta ... Hawks guard Kyle Korver has made at least one 3-pointer in 70 consecutive games ... Philadelphia has won eight of the last 11 meetings.