In the final game before the start of the Greg Monroe Era, the Joel Embiid-less Philadelphia 76ers were trying to knock off what has been, for them, a troublesome Atlanta Hawks squad.
In another of what, in theory, was supposed to be an easy game for the Philadelphia 76ers, it certainly was not on Wednesday night at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
Despite another atrocious performance on defense, the 76ers still could have pulled out a victory over the Hawks if they had been able to accomplish one of the simplest of basketball acts — making a foul shot.
The Atlanta Hawks topped the Philadelphia 76ers, 130-122, to take the season series, 3-1.
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The Sixers are now 49-29 and in third place in the Eastern Conference. Both the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers won on Wednesday to cut each team’s deficit to three games behind the Sixers. Atlanta is 29-50 on the season but 5-2 in its last seven games.
The Hawks could potentially have two of the top six picks in this year’s NBA Draft so they are definitely a team to watch in the future.
Atlanta was not exactly playing lock-down defense either and what ended up hurting the Sixers was a performance from the free throw line that would be barely acceptable for a middle school team.
Philly made just 22 of 38 foul shots (58 percent), including an awful 5-for-10 from Jimmy Butler (who shoots 88 percent for the season) and even J.J. Redick, a 90-percenter on free throws, was just 4-for-7. Take away Tobias Harris making all seven of his foul shots, the rest of the team was a pathetic 15-for-31.
But the Sixers still had a chance with 32.5 seconds remaining trailing 127-122. A flagrant foul call on Trae Young (33 points) on Butler put him on the line with the Sixers retaining possession. Butler is supposed to be the Sixers ‘closer’ but not on this night. He missed both foul shots and then Butler missed a three-pointer to end the Sixers’ chances.
The only surprise at the end of three quarters was that neither team had 100 points yet in what had been a defense-free contest. The Hawks held a 98-94 lead at the end of the quarter as each team took turns making runs against little opposition.
The 76ers held a six-point lead with two minutes to go in the second quarter but the Hawks discovered a simple pick would completely flabbergast the Sixers defense, then went on a 10-0 run to end the period and gave Atlanta a 72-68 advantage at halftime. The Hawks shot 54 percent from the field with19 fast-break points for the half because. … why wouldn’t they?
J.J. Redick had 18 points at halftime and broke the club record for most ‘threes’ in a season. He was followed by Tobias Harris with 14 and Jimmy Butler added 10. Boban Marjanovic helped with eight point and eight rebounds in 14 minutes.
The return of Jimmy Butler after missing the Dallas game did nothing to tighten up the Sixers defense in the first period. However, the Hawks were also employing the ‘guarding optional’ style of play but Atlanta still led 42-38 after one quarter.
The Sixers’ bench was an abomination except for Bobi. Mike Scott was a minus-18, T.J. McConnell was minus-14 and Amir Johnson a minus-seven in just six minutes of play as the Hawks were off to the races when the bench came in.
The Sixers fly back home on the second leg of a back-to-back to host the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference, the Milwaukee Bucks, in a Thursday night game. There are expected to be some reinforcements for that nationally-televised contest as Embiid and newly-signed Greg Monroe could all be available.