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Hawks tangle with 76ers at Philips Arena

Feb 8, 2011 - 4:02 PM (Sports Network) - The Atlanta Hawks will play back-to-back games at home, starting with tonight's showdown versus the Philadelphia 76ers at Philips Arena.

The Hawks will also welcome Charlotte to Dixie and are 17-7 as the host this season. They have won three in a row overall and recorded a 99-92 triumph over the Wizards in Washington on Saturday behind 29 points and a season-high 16 rebounds from Josh Smith.

Joe Johnson got into the act with 21 points and Marvin Williams registered 15 and 12 boards for Atlanta, which is 7-3 in its last 10 games and fourth in the Eastern Conference standings. The Hawks played without center Al Horford, who's out with a back injury. He is averaging 16.2 points and 9.9 rebounds, and is listed as probable for tonight.

"It was a little tough defensively, and sort of offensively," Johnson said of Horford's absence. "Smooth (Smith) picked up the slack and had an unbelievable game."

Johnson is also probable with a balky knee. He was named an Eastern Conference All-Star for the fifth consecutive time, the most consecutive by a Hawk since Dominique Wilkins. Atlanta is four games behind Miami for the Southeast lead.

Philadelphia, meanwhile, is in the midst of playing five of seven games on the road and had a three-game winning streak stopped with Sunday's 117-103 loss to the New York Knicks in the back end of a home-and-home series at Madison Square Garden.

Elton Brand had 28 points, Lou Williams added 19 in a reserve role and Thaddeus Young scored 16 points off the bench for the Sixers, who had won six of seven games and got 14 points out of Andre Iguodala.

"We just kept playing uphill and Amare (Stoudemire) was super," Philadelphia head coach Doug Collins said.

Stoudemire matched a season-high with 41 points on 17-of-21 shooting.

The 76ers are battling the Knicks for the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference and will try to work on their 7-19 road mark Tuesday night. They will return home to entertain Orlando and San Antonio before hitting the road again for three at Minnesota, Memphis and Houston.

Atlanta has beaten the Sixers twice already this season and has won four of the previous five meetings between the two clubs.