Atlanta improved to 3-5 on the road this season and 28-104 overall under coach Mike Woodson.
``When you're talking about making the playoffs, it's very important to win on the road,'' Woodson said.
The Hawks haven't been in the playoffs since the 1998-99 season.
For now, it was a positive step just to win a road game in an arena where they have struggled for several years.
``Since I've been an Atlanta Hawk, we haven't won here in three years,'' Smith said. ``It feels real good because it's a tough place to play with a difficult environment.''
Willie Green scored a season-high 23 points while Andre Miller added 18 for the Sixers (5-12), who lost for the 10th time in the last 13 games. Andre Iguodala and Kyle Korver scored 11 points each while Reggie Evans and Samuel Dalembert both had 10 rebounds.
``I thought it was kind of a flat game in the beginning,'' Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said.
Philadelphia was 2-of-11 from 3-point range. Over the last three games, the Sixers have hit just 5-of-37 3-pointers, including an 0-for-14 effort in last Friday's one-point win over Washington.
``We've got to find a way to put the ball in the hoop,'' Korver said. ``We're just not able to get good shots.''
The Hawks led 66-62 after the third quarter and extended their lead to nine on several occasions.
Atlanta led 79-72 before Childress hit a 3-pointer from the baseline and Johnson converted a three-point play for an 85-72 lead with 1:41 remaining.
Woodson pointed to his team's defense during the key 6-0 run.
``We've been playing good defense in the fourth quarters,'' he said. ``Tonight we made a stance in the third quarter and it carried over into the fourth.''
Green was 7-for-7 from the field in the second quarter and scored 16 points, as the Sixers overcame a seven-point deficit to take a 46-45 halftime lead.
Smith's 3-pointer at the buzzer had given the Hawks a 24-17 lead after the first quarter.
Notes: Woodson was an assistant coach with the 76ers from 2001-03. ... Hawks C Zaza Pachulia took an inadvertent forearm from Philadelphia's Samuel Dalembert and fell hard to the floor with 6:28 left in the first quarter. Pachulia left the game with what a team spokesman called ``headaches'' and did not return. Pachulia played a total of 28 seconds. ... The Sixers have lost six of their first nine home games. ``We have to establish some consistency at home,'' Cheeks said before the Atlanta game.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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