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.
C. Philadelphia 76ers. JOEL EMBIID. C+. <strong>35 mins | 27 pts | 12 reb | 2 ast | 0 stl | 0 blk | 4 TO | 7-11 FG | 2-3 3PT| 11-14 FT | 0 PF | +3|</strong><p>The big guy has a sterling stat line but, down the stretch, he made some bad decisions, culminating with his failure to come out and defend Young on the game-winning shot. The Hawks had no real answer for him but he turned the ball over a couple times in the fourth period trying to dribble-drive. Embiid did not commit a foul in the game, but also did not block a shot, which are odd numbers for him.</p>
C-. <strong>37 mins | 13 pts | 9 reb | 2 ast | 0 stl | 1 blk | 2 TO | 6-17 FG | 1-4 3PT| 0-1 FT | 2 PF | -11|</strong><p>For a player so skilled, Harris has shown a strange penchant for missing layups since his arrival. He blew a couple bunnies Saturday, particularly hurtful in a game with the Sixers struggling to keep up with a Hawks team putting up big numbers. Did a decent job on the boards but could have been more aggressive on offense. He took only one foul shot (a miss), which came on a technical.</p>. F. Philadelphia 76ers. TOBIAS HARRIS
B. <strong>36 mins | 25 pts | 6 reb | 4 ast | 2 stl | 1 blk | 1 TO | 6-13 FG | 0-0 3PT| 13-13 FT | 0 PF | -5|</strong><p>Butler did not get to be the late-game hero this time. Atlanta threw two players at him as he dribbled to get set for what could have been the game-winning shot and James Ennis did not set a solid screen. However, Butler was a standout offensively from the start this time and gave the Sixers badly-needed scoring in the first half. His defense on Young at the end was not bad, he received no help.</p>. F/G. Philadelphia 76ers. JIMMY BUTLER
B. <strong>35 mins | 21 pts | 6 reb | 9 ast | 4 stl | 2 blk | 2 TO | 9-16 FG | 0-0 3PT| 3-4 FT | 4 PF | +1|</strong><p>Atlanta’s guards are either smallish or not that athletic, which meant Simmons should have feasted on them. He put up some decent numbers but had a running dialogue with the referees throughout the contest, obviously feeling like he was getting fouled a lot more than was called (he only went to the foul line four times). His defense, compared to most of his teammates, was pretty good. He scored 21 points but somehow you get the feeling he could have had more.</p><p> </p>. PG. Philadelphia 76ers. BEN SIMMONS
B+. <strong>28 mins | 9 pts | 8 reb | 0 ast | 0 stl | 0 blk | 1 TO | 3-7 FG | 3-6 3PT| 0-0 FT | 1 PF | +10|</strong><p>One-third of the 76ers roster are centers, but, against a team like Atlanta with perimeter-oriented big men, Embiid is the only one who won’t get hung out to dry on the defensive end. This is a roster flaw that GM Elton Brand will undoubtedly correct in the offseason but, for now, coach Brett Brown has been turning to 6-foot-8 Mike Scott as a <em>really</em> small-ball center. Although the ‘Three-gional Manager’ had a couple of real bricks, he was .500 from three-point range (3-6) and was a team-high +10. Yes, Jonah Bolden and Justin Patton were not available because they were playing for the Blue Coats on Saturday but Brown obviously had no intention of playing them in this.</p>. F. Philadelphia 76ers. MIKE SCOTT
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.
Next. A potential path to the NBA championship. dark
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.