Sixers fall to Hawks; remain winless

Philadelphia - Al Horford scored 20 points and dominated the boards with 12 rebounds as the Atlanta Hawks kept the Philadelphia 76ers winless on the young season with a 104-101 triumph at Wells Fargo Center.

Josh Smith added 12 points, nine rebounds and six blocks and hit a big three- pointer in the final minute before blocking Andres Nocioni's potential gane-tying try at the buzzer in the win, the Hawks' second straight on the road to start the year.

"You can't be scared to take them," Smith said of the big basket. "My whole team puts trust in me. When they do that, it makes it easier on you to make the shot."


All-Star Joe Johnson scored 22 points, while Jamal Crawford netted 19 for Atlanta, which won despite turning it over 20 times.

"That's as athletic a team as you're going to face in the NBA," Sixers head coach Doug Collins said of the Hawks. "So our guys fought like crazy."

Andre Iguodala paced Philadelphia with 27 points, 10 assists and six rebounds, while Lou Williams and Nocioni were sparks off the bench with 16 and 15 points, respectively, in the loss.

Elton Brand had 20 points and eight boards but Jrue Holiday had his second straight subpar performance with eight points on 3-of-11 shooting. Holiday did have four assists and no turnovers, however.

Evan Turner followed up his impressive NBA debut by laying an egg, going scoreless in nearly 19 minutes of action.

The Sixers were impressive in the open floor, amassing 29 fastbreak points to just eight for the Hawks and turned the ball over just eight times to 20 for Atlanta but were manhandled on the glass, snaring just 36 rebounds compared to 46 for the Hawks.

Philadelphia had a chance to even things after Johnson made only 2-for-4 at the foul line in the final 11.7 seconds. After calling timeout with 4.5 ticks left, the Sixers inbounded to Nocioni, and ran Williams off a double screen. The Argentine was unable to locate his teammate, stepped back and attempted a three but Smith was there to block it, as the Hawks escaped with the win.