Trae Young recorded 36 points and 11 assists and Caris LeVert added 31 points on 12-of-15 shooting as the Atlanta Hawks posted a 124-110 road victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday.
Georges Niang chipped in 16 points and Mouhamed Gueye notched 10 points and 18 boards for Atlanta (39-42), which clinched the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks will visit the seventh-seeded Orlando Magic as part of the play-in round next week.
Jared Butler scored 25 points and Marcus Bagley produced career bests of 20 points and 10 rebounds for Philadelphia (24-57), which only had eight players available. With the loss, the Sixers are guaranteed to finish with one of the five worst records in the NBA — an important spot for a team that owes its first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder unless it falls within the top six.
Atlanta led 29-26 after the first quarter before Philadelphia began to create some separation midway through the second.
The Sixers trailed 41-40 until rattling off eight straight points — five by Adem Bona, wrapped around a 3-pointer by Butler. Atlanta briefly got its deficit down to three points before Philadelphia built the advantage back to 66-60 entering the break.
Bagley scored 12 points in the second quarter and co-led the Sixers with 14 first-half points, joining Bona. LeVert had 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting in the second quarter and 18 points on 7-of-7 shooting in the first half to pace the visitors.
Atlanta eventually went ahead on Young’s three free throws with 6:40 remaining in the third quarter. The Hawks went on to lead 91-85 after three quarters as LeVert drained a 3-pointer in the waning seconds of the period.
Atlanta held a 100-95 edge early in the fourth before Young made two 3-pointers about a minute apart, including one in which he heaved the ball expecting a foul call. LeVert drained a 3-pointer shortly thereafter to make it 111-98, and then Young knocked down two more from behind the arc as the lead ballooned to 118-102 with about four minutes left.
