(AP)

At the start of the week, the 76ers bench featured never-healthy veteran Kwame Brown and one of the league’s worst returns from its collective of reserves.

Friday night, a funny thing happened: The Sixers actually got something from its second-stringers.

The Sixers’ bench pulled its weight in a 115-107 overtime victory over Milwaukee. The reserves accounted for 35 points on 14-for-25 shooting, to go with 18 rebounds and 12 assists. The group was led by undrafted wing Hollis Thompson, who shot 7-for-9 from the floor for 16 points in 21 minutes.

Thompson turned in two of the game’s finer plays: a second-quarter alley-oop dunk, off a pass from Tony Wroten, on which Thompson’s chin was at rim-level, and a 3-pointer in overtime that pushed the game out of the Bucks’ reach.

The contributions of the Sixers’ bench players were a far cry from what they’ve averaged coming into their game against Milwaukee. The Sixers’ second unit had been posting fewer than 16 points per game, the fifth-worst average in the league.

“Hollis had a big night,” said Evan Turner, who scored eight of the Sixers’ 13 points in overtime.

Other players chipping in off the bench were: Lavoy Allen (nine points, eight rebounds, 34 minutes), Elliot Williams (six points, 14 minutes) and Tony Wroten (six assists, 11 minutes).

Williams and Lorenzo Brown were signed Wednesday to replace Darius Morris and Kwame Brown, who were waived. Those two guards already appear to be upgrades, as Williams was a player without a contract anywhere and Brown was playing for Springfield (Mass.) in the D-League.