PHILADELPHIA _ There's a sense that January came early this season.
The vibe around the 76ers is reminiscent of the excitement they provided in January last season. No one is expecting them to duplicate their winning 10 of 15 games in that month. But you can't deny that the electricity provided by Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Co. is similar to 10 months ago.
On Wednesday, the Sixers showed will to win, extending their winning streak to three games with a 119-019 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. The sold-out crowd of 20,549 witnessed the team's first home win of the season.
The Sixers (4-4) have won four of five games after opening the season with losses to the Washington Wizards, Boston Celtics, and Toronto Raptors. The Hawks (1-7) extended their league-worst losing skid to seven games.
The Sixers had a little scare.
Robert Covington limped to the locker room with 4 minutes, 41 seconds remaining in the third quarter. It was determined that he had a right knee hyperflexion. His knee bent too far in the wrong direction.
Covington returned in the fourth quarter and missed three shots _ two on 3-pointers. However, no one held that against him. Covington did enough damage before the injury. He made 6 of 11 3-pointers while leading the team with 22 points.
Embiid finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots in a season-high 30 minutes, 15 seconds. Simmons had 19 points, 13 rebounds, nine assists and two steals.
J.J. Redick struggled after missing the previous two games with lower-back soreness. He finished with eight points on 3-for-11 shooting. The shooting guard missed five of his six 3-pointers.
The Sixers decided to keep Dario Saric in the starting lineup. The power forward started the season on the bench. But he started alongside Simmons, Covington, Embiid and Jerryd Bayless while Redick was sidelined.
Saric averaged 13 points in those games. So the Sixers opted to keep him in the lineup and bring Bayless off the bench. However, Saric didn't have the same positive results Wednesday, scoring five points on 1-for-9 shooting.
Bayless (14 points), Amir Johnson (12 points, eight rebounds) and T.J. McConnell (12 points, seven assists) were the Sixers' double-digit scorers from the bench.
Hawks point guard Dennis Schroder finished with a game-high 25 points.
The Sixers had a commanding 17-point lead in the first quarter. However, they let the Hawks back into the game. Atlanta took its first lead (64-63) on Schroder's three-point play with 9 minutes, 39 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Then the Hawks extended their lead to seven points (73-66) after Taurean Prince's foul shots with 7:16 left in the quarter.
The Sixers regained the lead (87-85) on Johnson's dunk with 2:50 left in the quarter. They had a 111-98 advantage after Redick made a 3-pointer with 2:47 remaining in the game.
