The Atlanta Hawks & Philadelphia 76ers met for the first time this season via a home-&-away set, with the first game in Atlanta on Thursday night and the second meeting in Philadelphia Saturday night. In recent memory, the Hawks and Sixers are most remembered for their epic-seven game series in 2021 that saw Philadelphia overhaul their roster to acquire James Harden from the Brooklyn Nets.
Unfortunately, Atlanta did not get to see Philly at full strength in these two games, with James Harden sidelined till the end of November or start of December with a foot injury. Nevertheless, Atlanta still had their hands full with Sixers All-Star, Joel Embiid and company.
In game one, the Hawks used a big third quarter to commandeer this game and secure the victory at home. Trae Young led the way for the Hawks, scoring 26 points and dishing out 7 assists. Young did not shoot the ball exceptionally well, going 7-21, but he was able to get to the line plenty, going 10-10 at the charity strike. It was a quiet scoring night for Dejounte Murray, finishing with only 10 points, but he was able to contribute with a team-high 8 assists.
Clint Capela and Onyeka Okongwu both had a monster night’s against the perennial All-NBA center, Joel Embiid. Capela was active on the glass, defense and was in sync with Young and Dejounte Murray by attacking the rim. Capela finished with 18 points and 20 rebounds on the evening. It was the tandem of him and Okongwu that worked so effectively against Embiid. When Capela hit the bench, Okongwu came in and gave 21-impactful minutes. Okongwu contributed with 10 points, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks and his trademark stonewall defense.
Philadelphia struggled with shooting all night, going 38.6% from the field. Rising-star, Tyrese Maxey, shot 5-17 from the field to finish with an inefficient 15 points. Embiid led the way with a double-double of 26 points and 13 rebounds, but again, the Sixers did not get much contribution anywhere else.
Game 2 was a much different story for the Hawks as they traveled up tot Philadelphia for the second-half of this home-&-away set. Philly rode the coattail’s of their All-Star Center, as Embiid finished with a season-high 42 points. Embiid tallied a beefy-scoreline of 42 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 steals, in 40 minutes of action.
Philadelphia jumped out to a 37-24 lead in the first quarter and did not look back from there. In addition to Embiid’s monster-performance, Tobias Harris and Tyrese Maxey scored 21 and 26 points, respectively. Philly shot a scorching 55% from the field this game, and put Atlanta away early in this one.
Trae Young paced the way for the Hawks with 27 points and 11 assists for his sixth double-double this season. Dejounte Murray finished with 23 points, 7 assists and 8 rebounds for another near-triple-double. Both Hawks’ guards combined to only shoot 3-11 from beyond the arc.
It should be noted, especially after his play on Thursday night in Atlanta, that Okongwu was ruled out for this one. Capela did finish with another double-double of 14 points and 15 rebounds, but he was not as effective as he was Thursday against Embiid.
Atlanta will stay on the road and travel to Milwaukee for the second time in three weeks, and for their third overall meeting this season. Tip-off for Monday’s game in Milwaukee is at 8:00 p.m. eastern.
