ATLANTA _ The Atlanta Hawks are just a bad matchup for the 76ers.
The Sixers have a tough time coping with Atlanta's youth and athleticism, and that was evident again Thursday night.
The Hawks defeated the Sixers, 127-117, at State Farm Arena. It marked Atlanta's fourth victory in the last five meetings between the teams.
Even worse for the Sixers (31-18), they have lost two straight and eight of their last 10 road games. They take a 9-16 road mark into Saturday night in Boston. After that, they'll remain on the road for key games against the Miami Heat (Monday) and Milwaukee Bucks (Thursday). Those three teams are Eastern Conference contenders
The same can't be said about the Hawks (13-36), who are tied with the Cleveland Cavaliers for the NBA's second-worst record.
The Sixers looked like a sluggish team that didn't have any answers. Their last lead in the game came on Ben Simmons' foul shots to make it 21-20 with 4 minutes, 49 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Atlanta second-year point guard Trae Young torched the Sixers for game highs of 39 points and 18 assists. The NBA All-Star starter had 14 points and 10 assists in the first quarter. He was one of seven Hawks to score double figures.
Atlanta rookie forward DeAndre Hunter, a Friends' Central product, had 15 points. Hawks rookie reserve forward Cam Reddish, from Westtown School, had 12 points.
Simmons, who is an Eastern Conference All-Star reserve for the second straight season, paced the Sixers with 31 points and a game-high four steals while playing multiple positions. Fifteen of his points came in the first quarter.
Shake Milton had a career-high 27 points. Joel Embiid had 21 points and 14 rebounds.
The Sixers' fortunes appeared to turn in a negative way at the conclusion of the half.
They went on a 13-5 run to pull within two points (69-67) on Milton's three-pointer with 3.7 seconds left.
However, things got interesting when Tobias Harris was called for fouling Young on a three-point heave with 0.5 left. The Sixers argued the call and asked coach Brett Brown to get the referees to review the call. Harris was even called for a technical foul for arguing the call.
Brown asked the referees to review that call after Young made the technical foul shot to give his team a four-point cushion. But after looking at the monitor, the refs ruled that it was too late to challenge a call. That decision led to Brown's receiving a technical. Young went on to make the three foul shots to give the Hawks a 73-67 halftime lead.
Atlanta went on to build a 16-point lead (110-94) on Damian Jones' alley-oop dunk with 8:04 left in game.
The Sixers are determined to continue using Simmons in a variety of ways.
They saw how successful that was during the nine games Embiid missed with a torn ligament in his left ring finger. With Embiid out, the Sixers used Simmons as a screen-setter. They also played him at center. And the Sixers used him as a facilitator at the elbow, where his teammates played off him.
All that took him away from his role as the primary ballhandler.
"That needs to be continued to be grown," Brown said after Thursday's shootaround. "It will mean. I'm not saying, 'It may mean.' I'm saying it will mean that he's not the primary ballhandler when you put him in those situations ...
"So really, it's a goal and sort of the growth of Ben to put him in all these environments where he's really good at and can impact the game at."
Simmons averaged 21.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, 7.8 assists, and 2.3 steals while leading the Sixers to a 6-3 record during Embiid's absence. He was named the Eastern Conference player of the week on Jan. 20 after averaging 21.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 7.3 assists during a 3-1 week for the Sixers.
So it's obvious why the Sixers are determined to continue maximizing his versatility.
The Hawks coaches wore Kobe sneakers during the game in order to honor the legacy of Kobe Bryant.
