Philadelphia 76ers v.s. Atlanta Hawks: Post Game Grades

C+. The offense wasn’t flowing much at all for Philadelphia tonight, and Okafor’s lack of production during some stints of the game certainly didn’t help. He did manage to pour in a season-high 18 points in 23 minutes of play, but tallied that total due to volume more so than outright effectivness. The offense has a whole was out of sink quite a bit, and Okafor was a clear product of that. He showed some flashes of consistent production, but pursued to counteract that with a handful of turnovers around the basket and some poor decision making on both ends. His defense, albeit he showed some energy early on, was also a negative as the night wore on. Dwight Howard was able to get to the basket at will as the second half wore on, and Okafor looked lost on some possessions as Atlanta slung the ball around the court. He gets the solid grade here since he was asked to carry the load without much help under limited minutes, but a stronger performance would have been nice to see with Embiid sidelined.. C. Philadelphia 76ers. JAHLIL OKAFOR

B. Saric started off the game hot, scoring 7 of the Sixers’ first 14 points and providing energy to an offense that was otherwise quiet to begin the game. He showed nice poise and decision making when executing from the perimeter, and played with a level of confidence that is highly encouraging from the young Croatian. As the game transpired, Saric cooled off a bit, but did see some more bursts of effectiveness. He knocked down a smooth fall-away three off a gorgeous find from Sergio Rodriguez in the third, and found some nice positioning around the basket at times throughout the game. He showed some flashes of excellent defense on Paul Millsap as well, but the Hawks’ all-star was able to expose him more and more as the game proceeded and the Hawks got into a rhythm offensively. He ended up with a solid 12 points and a team-high 7 rebounds in the loss, and showed the type of flashes that should keep Sixer fans enthused as the youngster progresses.. PF. Philadelphia 76ers. DARIO SARIC

El Chacho was slow out of the gates, despite an early surge from the Sixers in the first quarter. He did, however, heat up as the game went on, knocking down some threes in the second half and helping keep the game close when the offense was fairly unpredictable around him. He didn’t pile up much of an assist total (4) alongside his 13 points, but he put on a nice display of ball movement as the team’s best offensive catalyst, and utilizing his creativity with the ball to save a number of possessions that otherwise would have ended in turnovers. He remains the type of steady hand this team needs at the point guard spot, and despite not doing anything extraordinary in the loss, he still continues to prove himself as a necessary cog in this offense.. PG. Philadelphia 76ers. SERGIO RODRIGUEZ. B+

ROBERT COVINGTON. D+. Outside of a random outbreak in the third quarter during which he hit three straight attempts from beyond the arc, Covington was abysmal for the majority of the night–on both sides of the basketball. He struggled to get anything going offensively, and blew a number of assignments defensively, something that doesn’t happen all that often with him. As somebody who has largely been a good defensive player this season, Covington’s inability to remain productive on that side of the ball was a somewhat unexpected occurrence alongside the continuation of his offensive slump. You can tell by his body language that something is off at the moment, and he’ll need to figure that out to retain the starting job long term.. SF. Philadelphia 76ers

T.J. MCCONNELL. C+. There was some good mixed in with the bad tonight for McConnell, as his offensive woes were somewhat counteracted by a nice showing defensively. The Sixers ran wild in the first quarter, forcing a total of 10 turnovers–something McConnell’s defensive pressure out of the second unit helped contribute to. As somebody who’s game relies heavily off of his grit and determination, it was nice to see him get into the grills of Dennis Schroder and Malcolm Delaney and play some of the best defense we saw out of the Sixers’ rotation tonight. He did continue to be somewhat lackluster in his scoring, however, and was unable to generate much offense with the ball in his hands. He dribbled into a lot of jams and turned the ball over himself a handful of times, leading to easy transition buckets of a Hawks team that killed Philadelphia in transition in the second half. This wasn’t an awful performance, but McConnell still would like to do better to establish some playing time once Bayless returns.. PG. Philadelphia 76ers

B-. Ilyasova contributed nice energy off the bench tonight, although his numbers weren’t all that great. He shot just 1 of 5 from deep en route to a 9-point outing in 24 minutes of play, but still was one of the more stabilizing facets of the Sixers rotation. He made some smart plays on the ball and providing excellent energy on the defensive end, even when forced into some awkward positions. At a couple points during the contest he was slotted at the center spot alongside Saric as both Okafor and Richaun Holmes rested, and certainly filled in admirably as a stopgap rotational player with Embiid’s absence leaving some holes in the lineup.. PF. Philadelphia 76ers. ERSAN ILYASOVA

With Gerald Henderson remaining relatively quiet in just 20 minutes of action tonight, Stauskas played a major role off the bench, tallying 12 points in 24 minutes of play. As somebody who didn’t put on the flashiest performance by any means, it was Stauskas’ energy on both ends that really caught my eye. He was a consistent part of the Sixers’ fastbreak-heavy offense in the first quarter, helping force turnovers and running the floor with impressive vigor. He stayed aggressive all night on the defensive side of the ball, and made some nice plays offensively that we likely wouldn’t have seen out of him in years past. He seems to be maturing quite a bit on both sides of the ball, and tonight he showcased why the Sixers were willing to give the former Michigan standout another shot at carving out a role with the team.. SG. Philadelphia 76ers. NIK STAUSKAS. A