Vucevic leads 76ers past Hawks, 98-87

ATLANTA — The Sixers are making the NBA's lockout-induced compressed schedule a vehicle to show off their superior depth and resiliency.

Playing without Elton Brand and facing one of the Eastern Conference's top five teams for the second straight night, Philadelphia had double figures from each of its four bench players to overwhelm the Atlanta Hawks 98-87 Saturday night.

Rookie Nikola Vucevic set a career high with 15 points to lead six Philadelphia scorers in double figures. The Sixers dodged back-to-back losses once again one night after Friday night's disappointing 99-79 home loss to Miami.

"Tonight was one of those games where somebody was going to lose two in a row, and it wasn't going to be us," Philadelphia's Lou Williams said.

The Sixers and the Hawks began the night tied for the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia played like an elite team while Atlanta had 15 turnovers in its second straight home loss.

Brand sprained his right thumb when it was caught in a jersey in the loss to Miami. Rookie Lavoy Allen of Temple made his first career start and had four points and four rebounds as the fill-in for Brand.

Vucevic, one of the high-scoring reserves, made 7 of 10 shots from the field. Thaddeus Young and Williams each had 14 points and Evan Turner added 11 off the bench.

"What a difference keeping our big guys fresh," Sixers coach Doug Collins said. "This was our fourth game in six nights and with the emotional game with Miami last night, I can't tell you how proud I am of the guys."

More good news for Philadelphia was the return of center Spencer Hawes, who had 14 points after missing 10 games with a left Achilles' strain.

"This season is going to be weird like that," Hawes said. "There's going to be different guys every night."

Hawes applauded the play of Allen and Vucevic in Brand's absence.

"That's what you've got to have," Hawes said. "That's the measure of teams that are able to thrive in this kind of setup."

Jeff Teague had 21 points to lead Atlanta.

The Sixers led by 20 in the third period and kept the lead in double figures until the Hawks staged a final comeback attempt. Joe Johnson's basket with 1:45 remaining cut Philadelphia's lead to 94-85. Williams, returning to his Atlanta home, answered with back-to-back baskets.

Andre Iguodala had nine points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for the Sixers.