The Philadelphia 76ers pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Atlanta Hawks, 126-116, at State Farm Arena on Friday night. Atlanta fell to 1-1 in the In-Season Tournament, while the Sixers improved to 1-1. Neither team could run away with the lead for the majority of the contest, but Philly executed better down the stretch, leading to a 10-point victory.
The Sixers jumped out to an early 15-9 lead on the backs of MVP-Joel Embiid, who had nine points, and Tobias Harris, who put up six. Jalen Johnson got off to a quick start for the Hawks with six early points, including a thunderous dunk over Embiid, hyping up the capacity-crowd in Atlanta. The Hawks have been notorious for slow starts at home this season, but they stayed right behind the Sixers for the majority of the opening frame. Philly built a 30-24 lead heading into the second quarter behind Embiid’s 11 points.
The Hawks opened the second frame on fire on both ends of the court with a 10-0 run. Bogdan Bogdanovic, Saddiq Bey and Johnson took advantage of the relaxed-Sixer transition defense to turn things around. Head Coach, Quin Snyder, always preaches playing with pace, and the Hawks did just that in the second quarter. However, after a quick 6-0 run, Philly grabbed the lead at 42-41. The game remained close as the second quarter winded down with the Sixers taking a 57-56 lead into half-time.
Atlanta scored a whopping 19 fast-break points in the first-half, generating easy offense before the Sixers could set their half-court defense. Johnson had 10 points and seven rebounds, and Trae Young put up nine points with eight assists. Bey and Bogdanovic each entered the half with seven. Embiid scored 15, Harris had 11 and Tyrese Maxey finished the first half with 12 points after a hot second quarter.
As both teams settled back into their rhythms after half-time, a bizarre sequence of events occurred when De’Andre Hunter tried to take a charge on Embiid. Hunter fell without a call being made, and Embiid got the offensive rebound. While Hunter was still on the ground from the contact, Embiid shot and fell over Hunter’s foot, causing an extraordinary chain of events. Hunter was called for a foul and was furious. He was ejected after earning two technical fouls. Hunter is normally pretty reserve on the court, and when he bursts out at the officials, fans can almost be certain the wrong call was made.
“It hurt,” said Snyder in the post-game presser, in regards to Hunter’s ejection, “he is a big part of what we do, on both ends of the floor.”
Similar to the first quarter, the Sixers held on to a narrow lead for the majority of the third frame. Philly took their biggest lead at 84-76 with only under three minutes left in the quarter. The Hawks were down 87-94 entering the final frame, as Philly poured in 37 points in the quarter.
While Embiid dominated in the paint, Harris’ three-point shooting and efficiency hurt the Hawks throughout the game- especially in the fourth quarter. Harris closed strong, bringing Philly’s lead to 109-98. Atlanta was not able to regroup quickly enough and string enough stops to get back in the game, and the Sixers cruised through the final minutes of the contest.
Young put up 22 points and 13 assists but still could not get his shot to drop, shooting 5-14 from the field. Dejounte Murry shot 5-16 for 13 points, and the Hawks will not win many games when their star backcourt has this type of shooting performance. Johnson put up an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double, while Clint Capela added a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double. Bey scored 17 points, while Bogdanovic added 13, on 4-12 shooting.
For Philly, Embiid dominated with 32 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Harris’ strong night ended with 29 points and 10 boards, including 3-5 from beyond the arc. Maxey added 19, while De’Anthony Melton put up 14 points. Danuel House Jr. hurt the Hawks with his efficient 14 points (5-8 FG) off the bench.
Hawks guard Trae Young was not too happy with the loss and had this to say after the game.
“We know where we need to be and where we are going to be a the end of the year, that is the bright spot,” said Young. “We are not even close to where we need to be to win at the highest level, or in the playoffs. The regular season is not only to get ready for that, you want to build and win as the season goes on, but you also want to be ready when that time comes.”
The Hawks now have a four-day break before they play against the Indiana Pacers at State Farm Arena on Tuesday. This will be their third group stage game and their last at home.
The Hawks have now fallen to 6-6 on the season with this loss, and Atlanta needs to avoid falling into the “.500-trap” they caught themselves in last season. The Hawks need to prioritize their defense as they prepare to battle Indiana Pacers, as they are led by blossoming-young star, Tyrese Haliburton, and the NBA’s highest-scoring offense.
