McKie Leads Sixers Over Hawks

Aaron McKie had better be careful or he might lose his job as sixth man.

McKie had his second straight triple-double and Allen Iverson scored 21 points as the Philadelphia 76ers snapped a four-game home losing streak Wednesday night with a 98-80 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.

"It feels great," said McKie, starting in place of injured point guard Eric Snow. "I've come so close on several occasions. But winning games is more important than anything."

The Sixers, coming off an impressive three-game road sweep that included victories at Utah and Sacramento, won their fourth straight and improved to 22-8 the NBA's best record.

Theo Ratliff had 17 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocks, Tyrone Hill added eight points and 11 rebounds and George Lynch had 12 points and eight rebounds for Philadelphia, which hadn't won at the First Union Center since beating Charlotte 95-74 on Dec. 1.

McKie had 11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. He realizes he'll be coming off the bench once Snow returns from a fractured right ankle in about six weeks.

"I love my role," McKie said.

Jason Terry scored 17 points and Roshown McLeod, Matt Maloney and Dion Glover each had 10 for Atlanta, which had won five of its previous seven.

Brevin Knight, acquired in a three-for-one deal from Cleveland on Tuesday, missed his first five shots and had six points and seven assists.

"We stood around in the beginning and watched them," Hawks coach Lon Kruger said. "They took the fight to us."

McKie, who had his first career triple-double in a 107-104 overtime victory against the Kings last Saturday, is the first member of the Sixers known to have done it in back-to-back games. The stat was not kept prior to 1979.

Phoenix Suns guard Jason Kidd was the last player to record the feat in consecutive games, doing so against Portland and Sacramento in December, 1999.

"When you consider he's a role player and non-starter, to go back-to-back is pretty neat," Sixers coach Larry Brown said.

The Sixers hit their first eight shots, had two 7-0 runs in the first quarter and led the entire game. Toni Kukoc's 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left in the second quarter capped an 18-5 run, giving Philadelphia a 60-33 halftime lead.

Atlanta didn't get any closer than 20 until midway through the fourth quarter. The Hawks cut it to 85-70 following a 15-2 run, but didn't get any closer.

Iverson, playing his first game at home since dislocating his right shoulder in a 91-71 loss to the New York Knicks on Dec. 22, shot 7-of-18 and had eight assists.

Iverson, expected to miss 1-to-3 weeks with the shoulder injury, returned after sitting out one game a 97-91 victory over the Jazz on Dec. 26.

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