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Hawks get rare road win against 76ers

Dec 4, 2007 - 5:28 AM PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Josh Smith scored 22 points as the Atlanta Hawks posted a rare win in Philadelphia with an 88-79 victory over the 76ers on Monday.

The Sixers had won seven straight home meetings with the Hawks and eight of the last 10 overall entering this contest. But Atlanta won in Philadelphia for the first time since March 21, 2003.

"Since I've been an Atlanta Hawk, we've have not won here," Smith said. "It feels good to come on here and get a win, in an environment that is the most difficult to get a win."

"It's always good to win on the road," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. "This is our fourth road win and you got to get as many as you can on the road."

Smith added seven rebounds, six assists and four blocks. He hit a jumper with 5:20 to play to give the Hawks a 79-70 lead.

About three minutes later, with Atlanta nursing a 79-72 lead, Smith came from the weak side and blocked a layup attempt by Andre Miller. Josh Childress hit a 3-pointer on the Hawks' ensuing possession to push the lead to 82-72 and the Sixers never threatened again.

"We've been pretty good in the fourth quarter in the last five outings," Woodson said "We've just haven't put up a lot of points. Tonight, we made a stance in the third quarter and it was a nice carry over into the fourth."

With the game tied, 12-12, in the first quarter, the Hawks closed out the opening period with a 12-5 run. Smith's 3-pointer with one-tenth of a second on the clock gave Atlanta a 24-17 lead.

The Sixers led 46-45 at the half, but the Hawks regained the lead with a 12-4 run in the third quarter.

"They just did a good job of just beating us," said Sixers forward Andre Iguodala, who struggled though a 4-for-14 shooting night from the field and finished with 11 points. "We weren't getting stops and as a result, we couldn't find our offense as well."

Marvin Williams' jumper with 3:46 to play matched Atlanta's largest lead of the game at 63-56. The Hawks took a 66-62 lead going into the fourth quarter.

"We've been pretty good in the fourth quarter in our last five outings," Woodson said. "We've just haven't put up a lot of points. Tonight, we made a stance in third quarter and it carried over into the fourth,"

Williams and Childress each had 16 points for Atlanta. "We just stayed with it," Williams said. "Coach was telling us that we had some great shots and we just had to knock them down. That's what we did. We came out in the second half and put it in the hole,"

Willie Green scored 23 points and Miller added 18 for Philadelphia, which has lost nine of its last 12 games.