NBA Game Preview - Atlanta at Philadelphia

Wed Mar 29, 2017 7:00 PM EDT

PHILADELPHIA -- The injury-riddled Atlanta Hawks, after ending a seven-game losing streak Tuesday night, will look to continue their reversal of fortunes when they visit the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night.

The Hawks (38-36) snapped their slump with a 95-91 victory over the Phoenix Suns. Atlanta received 27 points and nine assists from point guard Dennis Schroder and 18 points and 12 rebounds from veteran forward Ersan Ilyasova, who was acquired from Philadelphia in a Feb. 22 trade.

The victory came after the Hawks blew an 18-point lead before recovering.

"Just keep competing," Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer said. "That was our message, our mantra. Can we compete harder? Even when we were down, they stepped up and did that."

Schroder said, "It feels great to get a win. Now it's time to start a winning streak."

Dwight Howard contributed 15 points and 11 boards for Atlanta, which remains in a fifth-place tie in the Eastern Conference with Milwaukee, one game ahead of Indiana.

Hawks forward Paul Millsap missed his sixth straight game Tuesday with a sore left knee, and fellow forward Kent Bazemore sat out his fifth straight with a bruised right knee. Guard Thabo Sefolosha also missed his second straight with a groin strain.

Millsap, the team's top scorer at 18.1 points a game, will also miss Wednesday's game, as well as Saturday's game in Chicago, before he is re-evaluated. Budenholzer told the Journal-Constitution he is nonetheless encouraged.

"I would actually say it's positive," he said before Tuesday's game. "I think we are excited. We feel like he is making progress. I think we have what we feel is a good plan. I think the knee is going to get better and better. Assuming nothing happens between now and the weekend, I'm actually upbeat. I think it's a positive where we are."

Bazemore is expected to play against the Sixers, and Sefolosha is expected to make the trip to Philadelphia, though his status remains in question.

The Sixers (28-46) have health concerns of their own. Center Joel Embiid (knee) and forward Ben Simmons (foot) are out for the season, and center Jahlil Okafor (sore right knee) sat out his third straight game Tuesday, a 106-101 victory at Brooklyn.

Guard Sergio Rodriguez also missed that game with a strained left hamstring, and guard Gerald Henderson was forced to the sideline with a sore left hip. Rodriguez will be re-evaluated in a week, but Henderson is expected to play Wednesday.

It is not clear when Okafor will be available.

Former Hawks center Tiago Splitter, playing his first game since Jan. 31, 2016, contributed two points and three rebounds in seven minutes off the bench for Philadelphia. Splitter, acquired from Atlanta in exchange for Ilysova in that Feb. 22 deal, had been out with hip and calf problems.

"Of course, you always have (nerves)," he told Philly.com. "It's my first game after 13 months. Every game, you feel a little bit (nervous). That's the beauty of the game. That's why we like to play so much."

Splitter was one of just nine players available to Sixers coach Brett Brown. Rookie forward Dario Saric scored 23 points to lead Philadelphia, and forward Robert Covington collected 21 points and 13 rebounds.