Jalen Johnson led the Atlanta
Hawks to a 139-132 overtime win over Tyrese Maxey and the
Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night in a duel between the
presumed Most-Improved-Player candidates.
Both Johnson and Maxey had big
games to strengthen their case for the end-of-season award, but it
was Johnson and the Hawks who came out on top in the high-scoring
affair.
The 6-foot-9 forward out of Duke
put up 25 points and set career-highs in rebounds (16) and assists
(7), while also chipping in 3 threes, 2 blocks and a steal. Johnson
had a big three and two free throws in overtime to seal the
win.
Maxey tallied 35 points, 9
assists, 8 rebounds and 4 steals. He had a wild stretch in the
fourth where he blew by Trae Young for a huge dunk, got a stop
against Dejounte Murray and then hit a stepback three in Murray’s
face to give the Sixers the lead. However, he turned the ball over
late and then fouled out in OT.
The Sixers were again playing
without reigning MVP Joel Embiid and are now 2-9 without him in the
lineup. After losing three-straight games, Philadelphia is now
23-13, which is the third-best record in the Eastern
Conference.
Atlanta has underwhelmed thus
far with a 15-21 record, which is No. 11 in the East.
