ATLANTA _ The 76ers suffered yet another ugly loss to a losing team.
This time, it was a 130-122 setback to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night at State Farm Arena. As a result, the Sixers (49-29) have lost two straight and four of their last six games.
The Hawks (29-50), meanwhile, have won five of their last six games. Atlanta has also won three of the four season series meetings against the Sixers. This defeat came two days after Philly suffered a 122-102 loss to the struggling Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center.
The loss, coupled with the Boston Celtics' victory over the Miami Heat on Wednesday night, kept Boston in the race for the third seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Sixers' other losses during the six-game stretch was to the Orlando Magic (March 25) and the Hawks (March 23).
The Sixers did what they've done all season _ struggle on defense. They were, once again, terrible against the pick-and-roll, which led to poor rotations and open three-pointers.
The Hawks shot 52.2 percent while making 12 of 36 3-pointers.
Rookie point guard Trae Young finished with 33 points, 12 assists and seven assists. John Collins added 25 points and eight rebounds as all five Hawks starters scored in double-figures.
If that wasn't bad enough, the Sixers lost their best reserve perimeter defender. James Ennis III left the game in the fourth quarter with a right thigh bruise and didn't return. He was hobbling on the court before leaving the game.
This was Ennis' second game back after missing two games with the bruise.
JJ Redick finished with 30 points while making 6 of 13 3-pointers on a night he broke the Sixers' single-season record for made three-pointers. He has 231 with four games remaining. Kyle Korver set the former franchise record of 226 during the 2004-05 season.
Tobias Harris added 21 points for the Sixers. Ben Simmons had 15 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists. Jimmy Butler finished 16 points and seven rebounds after missing Monday's game with back tightness. He did have a late scare in Wednesday's matchup after he hit in the face by Young while both were going for the ball near midcourt with 32.5 seconds left in the game.
Young was called for a flagrant foul. Butler was on the court in pain for several minutes. After getting up, he missed both foul shots.
The swingman didn't participate in the team's morning shootaround at the arena. He was at the hotel, receiving treatment. At that time, coach Brett Brown said he didn't expect him to play against the Hawks.
However, Butler arrived to the arena several hours before the game to test out his back in a workout. It was announced that he would play 1 hour, 39 minutes before the contest. Butler suffered the injury in Saturday's 118-109 victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Target Center.
This marked the third consecutive game and 13th Sixers center Joel Embiid has missed this season because of tendinitis in his left knee. Reserve Furkan Korkmaz was out for the 21st consecutive game after suffering a torn meniscus in his left knee.
Meanwhile, the Hawks were without Vince Carter (load management), Dewayne Dedmon (left ankle soreness), Miles Plumlee (left knee cartilage injury), Alex Poythress (right ankle sprain) and Omari Spellman (left ankle sprain).
Carter was a part of the Hawks television broadcast team for Fox Sports South.
