(Basketball news) The Portland Trail Blazers continued their great start to the season as they beat the New Orleans Pelicans 106-95. For the Trail Blazers, Anfrenee Simmons hit five 3-pointers and scored 23 points as Grant produced a 27-point performance while Little finished with 15 points and Winslow with 12 points. For the Hawks, Josh Hart added 17 points as Williamson scored 29 points and Murphy added 16 points while McCollum, who played despite feeling ill, finished with 13 points but missed 11 of 17 shots and went 1 of 7 from 3-point range. With this result the Trailblazers improved their record to 9-3 and are second in the Western Conference. 

''I gave them a little misdirection and then the lane opened up,'' Grant said. ''I knew I had to be aggressive, especially with Dame out.''

''We're winning. That's all that matters to me,'' said Hart, who was a fan favorite in New Orleans. ''I want to win. I said that. I made that clear, and we're doing that. I'm fully happy, fully committed and ready to keep it going.''

'They just played harder, and we didn't play smart,'' Pelicans coach Willie Green said. ''We just got to run our stuff and take care of the basketball, and we didn't. I thought their zone disrupted our flow, our rhythm, and that's what it's meant to do.''

''Everything isn't supposed to be easy,'' McCollum said. ''We're supposed to go through some trials and tribulations. It's about how you respond. … I'm not worried about it.''

The Atlanta Hawks continued their good start to the season as they won 104-95 against the Philadelphia 76ers. For the Hawks, Trae Young scored 26 points, Clint Capela added 18 points with 20 rebounds. For the 76ers, Joel Embiid led the scoring with 26 points and 13 rebounds for his second straight double-double after missing three games with the flu as James Harden had 17 turnovers and 15 assists. With this result the Hawks improved their record 8-4 and are 4th in the Eastern Conference standings. 

''We've just got to be better at not relaxing at all and not looking at that scoreboard,'' Young said. ''We've just got to finish the game.''

''The lack of point guard play I thought was really clear tonight,'' said 76ers coach Doc Rivers. ''We're going to have to make an adjustment there.''

''We've been in a lot of close ones that should have been wins,'' Maxey said. ''We've got to break through and start winning these games.''

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