Image from ATLHawks Twitter
Really not much to say about this one, except that it was a good ole fashioned butt-kicking in the City of Brotherly Love. The Philadelphia 76ers and Atlanta Hawks met for the first time this season, since their epic 7-game series last summer. The 76ers (who are notably without All-Star guard, Ben Simmons) took it to the Hawks on Saturday, with a 122-94 victory.
Unlike the playoff series from a couple months ago, the ‘Sixers used balance and depth to beat Atlanta. Tobias Harris finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds, on 9-of-13 shooting, to lead all scorers. Star big man, Joel Embiid, added in another 19, and four other Philly players scored in double digits.
Philly jumped all over Atlanta to go up 28-15 after the first frame. It was never really a game as the 76ers lead this one pretty much wire-to-wire. Philadelphia outscored Atlanta a whopping 60-36 in the paint, and also bested them by 20 points via fast-break baskets, 34-14.
Atlanta did not shoot the ball well for a third straight game. As a team, they shot 37.9% overall, compared to Philly’s 53.5% from the field. The lone bright spot was not shooting under 30% from three, the Hawks finished at 36.4% from the evening.
No one really got the boat going for the Hawks. Trae Young posted his third double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 assists, but shot 5-of-16 from the field and 1-of-4 from the three. One encouraging thing for Hawks fans, was the continued play of Cam Reddish off the bench for Atlanta. He shot 7-of-14 from the field and finished with 16 points in 20 minutes. At the rate Reddish is playing, he is inching and inching toward starters’ minutes.
The Hawks now fall to 3-3 on the season with a rematch against the upstart-Washington Wizards on Monday night. The Wizards just recently bested the Hawks 122-111 last Thursday in DC. Good news for the Hawks is that they will be at home, where they have played excellently with this current core.
Hopefully, they can get this show back on track, and start the week off with a win on Monday!
