Sixers: 3 advantages over Hawks in second round

Sixers advantage over Hawks in second round: Experience

I’m not one to oversell the benefits of experience. Young teams can beat veteran teams. That said, there are benefits to having been through it. This is not the Sixers’ first rodeo. Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons have been in the mud. Through dogfights. Danny Green is looking for a personal three-peat. Dwight Howard won a ring last season, too. The Sixers have the battle scars and the experience in ways Atlanta simply does not.

That is not to say Atlanta has no experience. Clint Capela has battle scars galore from his Houston days. Bogdan Bogdanovic played and thrived on the biggest stage in Europe. Lou Williams, Danilo Gallinari — they’ve been around the block. That said, when it’s come to the Hawks’ core pieces, like Trae Young, John Collins, and DeAndre Hunter, this is their first taste of playoff basketball. The Sixers are not the Knicks.

Whereas New York couldn’t score nor defend, the Sixers will have answers for Trae Young. He will have to adjust to different looks and different defenders. Ben Simmons and Matisse Thybulle are dogs, and will force Young to navigate length at the point of attack. Philadelphia has plenty of switchable defenders, as well as the capacity to go zone when matchups warrant it (probably not often against Atlanta, but still). The Hawks will face a much tougher uphill battle in Philadelphia, and that’s even if Embiid is less than 100 percent.

The Hawks are a deep and talented team, but so are the Sixers — and the Sixers have experience on their side. If this series goes long, and there’s a real grind, it’s not unreasonable to expect Philadelphia to respond better.