PLAYER GRADES: Atlanta Hawks 129, Philadelphia 76ers 127
There was going to be no ‘Load Management’ for the Philadelphia 76ers as they brought a full roster to Atlanta to take on the Hawks as it attempted to nail down the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference.
If you watched the Philadelphia 76ers game at Chicago, when Zach LaVine made a drive at the buzzer to win it for the Bulls, it was pretty much Instant Replay on Saturday night.
Rookie Trae Young (32 points, 11 assists, six rebounds) made a floater in the lane with 0.1 seconds remaining for to give the Atlanta Hawks a 129-127 victory over the visiting 76ers.
The Sixers had their six-game winning streak snapped. They hold a three-game lead over idle Indiana and four on Boston (who lost at Charlotte) for third place in the Eastern Conference.
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The Sixers had the ball with 27.5 seconds left but Jimmy Butler’s three-point try was called after the shot clock expired. It looked like James Ennis (in for J.J. Redick for defensive purposes) was not quite sure how to screen for Butler, who has been an assassin at the end of games.
Atlanta then received the ball with 3.5 seconds left. Everyone in the arena and watching on TV knew the ball would go to Young, but Butler had to guard him one-on-one and, with no help, Young was able to drive and pull up for the shot from six-feet out.
The last time the Hawks had faced the Sixers, back on Jan. 11, they had made Philadelphia look like a bunch of ‘Lost Boys’ that time as well with a 123-121 victory (Atlanta is co-owned by actress Jami Gertz who was in that movie) at the Center. .
After two-and-a-half periods of the Hawks scoring at will, the Sixers ended the third period finally looking like the team that just beat Boston and Milwaukee. A J.J. Redick three-pointer capped a 15-3 run and tied the score at 100-100 going into the final period.
The 76ers did not pack its defense apparently in the first half as they trailed Atlanta 74-68 at halftime, the highest number of points they have given up all season.
In the first quarter the Sixers shot 65 percent and went to the foul line 17 times to take a 41-34 lead. The highlight was Boban Marjanovic making the first three-pointer in his career.
The Sixers bench proceeded to kick that advantage way, making just four of its first 16 shots as the Hawks took a 60-51 lead.
Defense seemed to be quite optional for the Sixers in the first half as Atlanta got numerous slam dunks en route to 36 points in the paint while Young (21 points, eight assists in half) had little difficulty doing whatever he wanted.
The Sixers are now going to DisneyWorld as they travel to Orlando to face the Magic, a team trying to make a late charge for the playoffs.
Atlanta is coached by Lloyd Pierce, who was an assistant to Brett Brown specializing in defense until the Hawks hired him this season. Atlanta holds a 2-1 lead in the season series with Philadelphia. The Sixers get a rematch in Atlanta on April 3.