There is a spark off the bench – and then there is Mike Scott on Friday.
The second-year player scored 18 points, 16 in the second quarter, as the Hawks broke open the game en route to a 125-99 drubbing of the 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center.
It was the 10th straight game Scott has scored in double-figures. The second-round draft pick easily has been the Hawks’ most-improved player this season. He is getting increasing time. Scott was on the floor for the final minutes of the Hawks’ last-second road loss to the Thunder Monday.
It wasn’t just Scott. The Hawks got a complete-game effort with seven double-digit scorers.
Elton Brand had a season-high 18 points and eight rebounds. DeMarre Carroll had 13 points and nine rebounds. Paul Millsap had 12 points, four rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a season-high six steals. Jeff Teague (12), Lou Williams (12) and Kyle Korver (11) rounded out those in double figures. Korver extended his NBA-record streak to 114 games with a 3-pointer.
The Hawks (24-11) won their third straight over the Sixers, including both games this season. All the starters were out by the end of the third quarter.
The Sixers (15-32) have lost four of their past five games. Thaddeus Young led all scorers with 29 points.
Scott entered the game ranked first in free-throws made (65), second in points per game (8.8), field goals made (138), field-goal percentage (.486) and free-throw percentage (.802) and third in rebounds per game (3.3) and 3-pointers (30) for second-round picks in his draft class.
“How hard he worked this summer is paying off,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said last month of Scott. “It’s good for young players to know that what he is experiencing as far as the little bit of success he is having started in June, maybe even April and May. … It is a real tribute to how hard he has worked.”
What the Hawks started with a 37-point second quarter, they continued in the third. The Hawks started the period on a 15-6 run to build a commanding lead. They led by as many as 32 points and took a 102-75 advantage into the final quarter.
The Hawks took a 64-52 lead into intermission after leading by as many as 14 points in the second quarter.
The Hawks had no answer for Young in the first quarter. The Georgia Tech product scored 16 points in the opening quarter. He shot 6 of 10 from the floor, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range. He finished with 23 first-half points.
The Sixers had no answer for Scott in the second quarter. The forward scored 16 points in the period on 7 of 11 shooting. He finished the game with nine rebounds.
The Hawks return home to complete a back-to-back by hosting the Timberwolves Saturday.
