John Wall scores 28 points, Wizards hold on to beat 76ers

 Bradley Beal threw the best lob of his life to John Wall, and the Washington star finished the alley-oop that the longtime teammates are accustomed to making.

The experienced Wizards made the plays to beat the young Philadelphia 76ers 120-115 on Wednesday night in the season opener for each team. The NBA debuts of Sixers top picks Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz took a back seat to Wall and Beal getting the job done despite not having their best shooting performances.

Wall scored 28 points on 10-of-28 shooting and had eight assists, and his 15-second stretch in the fourth quarter with a layup, block and pass to Marcin Gortat for a dunk showed what he could do in crucial moments.

"When John was making some of those dunks, I was telling our coaches, `I cannot believe he just did that,'" Wizards coach Scott Brooks said. "Those are things that point guards don't do, and he just does it so easy."

This wasn't an easy victory for the Wizards, who survived in the final minute when Philadelphia turned the ball over twice and J.J. Redick missed a 3-pointer. And although Brooks and his players were happy to win, the Sixers earned plenty of respect from a team that was one victory away from the Eastern Conference final.

"No matter if they're a young team or not, those are games you kind of want to take away from them and don't give them any confidence, but they gave us a great test," Wall said.

Sixers forward Robert Covington had 29 points.

Simmons, the 2016 No. 1 pick who missed all last season with a foot injury, had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Fultz, the 2017 No. 1 pick, came off the bench to score 10 points.

Sixers coach Brett Brown called Simmons' first regular-seasn game "really, really exceptional" and was impressed with how Fultz played after shoulder and knee injuries limited him in the preseason. Losing close to the Wizards was a welcome to the NBA moment for the rookies.

"To make that effort against this team - probably one of the top three teams in the conference - it's tough," said Fultz, who is from nearby Upper Marlboro, Maryland. "I thought we did well in our first game, and we have to learn from it."

TIP-INS

76ers: Jerryd Bayless started in place of Fultz and had 13 points. ... Fans chanted "Trust the Process" several times during the game, drawing the ire of the home crowd.

Wizards: Beal finished with 25 points. ... Jason Smith, starting at power forward with Markieff Morris out roughly the first month after sports hernia surgery, played just 7:04 before leaving with a sprained right shoulder. Brooks expects to know more Thursday. ... Kelly Oubre Jr. had 14 points in replacing Smith. ... Opened at home for the first time since 2011 and for the first time in an 82-game season since 2008.

WHAT MINUTES RESTRICTION?

So much for the idea that Sixers center Joel Embiid was on a strict minutes restriction. After Brown said Embiid would play somewhere in the 15 to 20-minute range, his final total was 26:57 with 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Embiid was surprised he played that much.

"We got to stop calling that `minute restrictions,'" Embiid said. "I think the plan is to just get out there, play, see how I feel. There's going to be some games I'm going to be sore and I'm going to be tired."

GORTAT'S DEDICATION

Gortat, who scored 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and grabbed 17 rebounds, wore "AW" on his shoes to honor late Polish basketball player Alex Wojcik, who died of leukemia at age 47 over the summer.

RED-HOT COVINGTON

Taking advantage of some matchup problems presented by injuries and smaller lineups, Covington shot 7 of 11 from 3 to finish one point off his career high.

"My teammates found me in the open position and I was able to knock them down," Covington said.

UP NEXT

76ers: Host the Boston Celtics on Friday in their home opener.

Wizards: Host the Detroit Pistons on Friday before beginning a four-game Western Conference trip.

Wall's 24 points lead Wizards over Pelicans 105-91

Everything is going right for the Washington Wizards these days.

John Wall had 24 points and 13 assists, Markieff Morris scored 18 points and the Wizards held New Orleans scoreless for the final 5:52 of the fourth quarter in a 105-91 win Saturday night.

Washington has won seven straight games for its longest winning streak since a seven-game stretch Jan. 2-15, 2005.

The Wizards limited the Pelicans to eight points in the fourth quarter on 3-for-21 shooting.

"I would like to think it was good defense. It was some of us, and they were missing shots," Washington coach Scott Brooks said. "Anytime you hold an NBA team to eight points, you're doing something good."

The Wizards also extended their home winning streak to 17 games, second-longest in franchise history.

Anthony Davis had 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead New Orleans, which lost its fourth straight. Davis, who was getting treatment on his right thigh after the game was held scoreless in the last quarter.

The Pelicans didn't score after Tyreke Evans hit a 3-pointer to take a 91-90 lead with 5:52 to play.

Morris' dunk 12 seconds later put the Wizards ahead and started a game-closing 15-0 run.

"You don't score the last five-six minutes of the game, there's a good probability you're going to lose the game," New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry said.

The Wizards (30-20) moved 10 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2014-15 season.

TIP INS:

Pelicans: G Buddy Hield, held scoreless on Sunday in the team's last meeting, shot 3 for 10 and had six points. Gentry isn't worried about Hield, who was a highly heralded player in college a year ago. Hield was recently moved into the starting lineup. "I think he's making progress. I think he's going to be a really good player in this league," Gentry said.

Wizards: F Danuel House, who has played in just one game this season, is nearing a return from his fractured right wrist. "You'll probably see him in the next 10 days or so. Maybe he plays in the D-League," Brooks said. ... Wall moved into 10th place on the team's all-time scoring list. ... C Marcin Gortat had 17 rebounds - 10 in the first quarter. ... Washington has won 22 games at home this season - equaling its 2015-16 home win total.

CLEVELAND COMING: Wall was asked if Monday's game against the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers was the biggest of his NBA career.

"It probably is. I've been in some big games before, but I don't think one bigger this year. They've been playing OK, but they're the defending champs. We know what team we have to chase in the East," Wall said.

Morris said that he was looking forward to it, too. "What's better than beating the best team in the East - or the second-best?"

NO HOLIDAY FOR JRUE: Pelicans G Jrue Holiday looked like he had a good chance for his third career triple-double after three quarters when he had 13 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

In the fourth quarter, Holiday missed all five shots, and had just one rebound and assist. He finished with a season-highs in rebounds (10) and turnovers (6).

New Orleans lost all three road games it played this week in Detroit, Toronto and Washington.

"It was a tough road trip. A tough one," Holiday said.

UP NEXT:

Pelicans: Host Phoenix on Monday night.

Wizards: Host Cleveland on Monday night.

Howard, Millsap, Hardaway lead Hawks past Wizards 114-99

 Dwight Howard was everything the Hawks were hoping for in his hometown debut.

Tim Hardaway Jr. in a starring role?

That was a major surprise.

Hardaway scored 21 points and ignited a fourth-quarter outburst that carried new-look Atlanta to a 114-99 victory over the Washington Wizards in the season opener Thursday night.

Howard, who returned to the city where he grew up in the Hawks' biggest offseason move, did nothing to disappoint. He grabbed 19 rebounds - more than anyone had for Atlanta all of last season - and was a huge presence at the defensive end, disrupting shots and giving his teammates the freedom to be more aggressive on the perimeter.

"The worst thing you can do is lay an egg in the first game," said Howard, who also had 11 points and three blocks. "I think all of us were a little nervous in the first half because we want to do so well. We really want put on for this city. ... Once we kind of settled in, kind of got our feet wet, we took it to another level."

Paul Millsap, for one, didn't have to spend so much time banging on the boards. He took advantage at the offensive end, leading the Hawks with 28 points on 11-of-20 shooting.

But Hardaway was the one who really came up big, which was totally unexpected given that he was largely confined to the bench and even spent time in the D-League during his first season with the Hawks.

"It's definitely a new page, a new start," Hardaway said. "But (last season) will always be the intro to me in Atlanta. That will always be in the back of my head, how they pushed me, how they got me prepared to get to this point in my career."

Hardaway scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, including back-to-back 3-pointers that helped Atlanta pull away, and wound up matching his best showing in a Hawks uniform. Thabo Sefolosha was another key contributor off the bench, scoring 11 of his 13 points in the third quarter.

The Hawks, who led only 81-80 heading to the final period, outscored the Wizards 33-19 over the final 12 minutes.

Markieff Morris led Washington with 22 points, but it was a tough night for the Wizards' dynamic backcourt duo. John Wall finished with only 12 points on 3-of-15 shooting, while Bradley Beal was held to 13 in the debut for new Washington coach Scott Brooks.

"We got a lot of good looks. Some went down, some didn't," Beal said. "But at the end of the day, we can't control our offense. We can control our defense and our effort. We just gave up the last quarter and a half."

TIP INS

Wizards: Marcin Gortat had 11 rebounds but didn't have much help. Washington was outrebounded 52-40. ...Otto Porter was the only other Washington player in double figures with 10 points. ... The Wizards locked arms during the national anthem.

Hawks: Howard posted the most rebounds for anyone in their Atlanta debut, breaking the mark of 18 that Shareef Abdur-Rahim set at Houston on Oct. 30, 2001. ... Dennis Schroder, taking over as the starting point guard after the trade of Jeff Teague, had 14 points but only two assists.

BROOKS RETURNS

After deciding not to pursue a coaching job last season, Brooks was back on an NBA sideline with the Wizards.

He spent six-plus seasons guiding the Oklahoma City Thunder before he was fired in 2015 after the team failed to make the playoffs.

TEMPERS FLARE

Atlanta's Kent Bazemore was called for a flagrant foul early in the third quarter when he got underneath Wall as the Washington star went in for a breakaway dunk, sending him tumbling to the court.

Wall hopped up, looking to go after Bazemore, but several players stepped in before something more serious could develop.

Bazemore said he didn't mean to make contact with Wall.

"I don't play the game that way," Bazemore said. "It was just an unfortunate play. We hugged and made up after that."

UP NEXT

Wizards: Play at Memphis on Sunday, facing a Grizzlies team that began the season with a 102-98 victory over Minnesota.

Hawks: Travel to Philadelphia on Saturday to take on the 76ers, who went 10-72 last season and opened with a loss to Oklahoma City.