Game 1 of the Philadelphia 76ers‘ second round series against the Atlanta Hawks had a less than ideal result with the Sixers ultimately ending it with a loss. However, towards the end of the game, the 76ers proved that they have enough to defeat the lower-seeded Hawks.
There’s going to be at least three adjustments that head coach Doc Rivers will need to make in order for the Sixers to defeat the Hawks in Game 2 and beyond. If he does these things, then the Sixers have a good chance to win this series, assuming Joel Embiid can play in each game at a high level.
It should be noted that the first two of these adjustments were a combined one in Christopher Kline’s recent article on The Sixer Sense, however, I’ve gone into more depth in this piece.
3 adjustments for Game 2: Double team Trae Young
It’s important for Rivers to make Hawks star Trae Young work for his offense on that end of the court. It was clear that in Game 1 that allowing Young to set up the pick-and-roll was a horrible idea for the 76ers.
Young can shoot from anywhere and can make fantastic passes, like the one at the end of Game 1 to John Collins. There’s been only one player that has ever given Young any problems and that was when he faced Jevon Carter when both point guards were in college.
Carter is now on the Phoenix Suns and Young is much better than when he was in college. Single coverage won’t work and Rivers should do to Young what most teams had done to James Harden when he was on the Houston Rockets and get the ball out of his hands.
As Kline, had suggested in his article, that means double-teaming and traping Young on a regular basis. While turnovers would be a great result of these tactics, it’s not the main goal. the purpose is to disrupt the flow of Atlanta’s offense while also keeping Young from initiating the offense and keeping the ball out of his hands as much as possible. This tactic should slow down the red hot Hawks offense a bit.
3 adjustments for Game 2: Make Trae Young work on defense
Taking Young out of the offense is a good start, but it isn’t the only thing Rivers should throw Young’s way. The Philadelphia 76ers also need to make Young work on the defensive end. Too many times in Game 1 Young was able to hide on defense guarding Danny Green.
“It will force Young to switch on the ball handler, who should have the advantage as Young’s been a negative defender.”
That can’t happen in Game 2. Rivers has to find a way to make Young exert energy on defense. If he can, then it will be harder for the point guard to score on offense as he’s used more energy on defense and can’t save himself for just offense. The question is how should Rivers scheme the offense to attack Young defensively?
The answer is simple, the Sixers have to involve Young’s in screens and pick-and-rolls like Kline wrote about. However, to be clear, Young will be guarding to the 76ers’ worst offensive player, so having that player running the pick-and-roll won’t probably happen and be effective.
Whether it be Green or Matisse Thybulle, they can’t be the ball handler in the pick-and-roll. The solution is that they need to be setting the pick in that play. It will force Young to switch on the ball handler, who should have the advantage as Young’s been a negative defender. If the Hawks decide not to switch, then that just means the ball handler will have an advantage because of the pick set.
It should be noted that Philly doesn’t run a lot of pick-and-rolls, but they do run some screens and dribble handle-offs. Thybulle isn’t a player that can’t really run those as he’s not a strong shooter, but Green can so Rivers needs to run those for Green when he is being guarded by Young.
There’s a way to make Young work on the defensive end and Rivers has to make that a focus in Gam 2.
3 adjustments for Game 2: Start Matisse Thybulle
Danny Green had one of his worst games as a member of the Sixers. He let Young get hot early, but part of the blame goes on Rivers for keeping Green on Young for most of the first half. However, it wasn’t just on defense, it was on offense that he struggled to.
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He had four points, two rebounds, four assists, and two steals, while shooting 2-7 from the floor and 0-4 from the 3-point line. To be fair, Green should be able to bounce back offensively, but not defensively in Game 2. Young is too fast for the veteran to guard and Green shouldn’t matched up against him.
Rivers can’t turn to Simmons because when he did let Simmons defend Young, Young was able to pick up two quick fouls against Simmons in the third quarter of Game 1. That leaves Matisse Thybulle as the best option on the roster to slow down Young.
Starting Thybulle allows Rivers to save Simmons and Green from defending Young and if Rivers doubles teams or traps Young, there isn’t a better player to try to steal the ball than Thybulle. There’s a downside of starting Thybulle when it comes to offense because he’s not a reliable shooter. However, the 76ers might have to roll the dice here as it’s their best option to slow down Young and just hope Thybulle hits his shots as he did in Game 1.
The Philadelphia 76ers have to get the ball out of Young’s hands, make him work on defense, and have Thybulle guard him to start the contest if they want a shot of winning Game 2.