There have been some Philadelphia 76ers players who’ve picked up their game during this second round series against the Atlanta Hawks. Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris, Seth Curry, and even Shake Milton have stepped up at certain points in these first two games at home.
However, the Sixers will be on the road for Game 3 and the series is tied 1-1. This is a big game for the 76ers. Philly can reclaim home court advantage if they win and be down 1-2 if they lose. They need to step it up as a whole on the road.
The players who have played well need to continue to play on the road, but the Sixers will need even more to win on the road. One player in particular that needs to step up is surprising not Ben Simmons, but starting small forward Danny Green.
The Philadelphia 76ers need more from Danny Green.
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In the first round matchup against the Washington Wizards, Green looked great against Washington. He played effective defense against Russell Westbrook while being an efficient scorer.
In that round, he averaged 9.4 points, 1.4 blocks, 1.0 steals, while shooting 47.6 percent from the 3-point line. He also scored in double-digits in three of those games. He was everything the 76ers could have asked for in that series, so what changed against the Hawks?
He was smoked on defense guarding Trae Young in Game 1 and he hasn’t been a threat on offense in either Game 1 or 2. He’s averaged, 4.5 points, 0.5 blocks, 2.0 steals, while making 10.0 percent on 3-pointers.
That won’t cut it on the road against this Hawks team. The 76ers need him to be making at last 40.0 percent of his 3-pointers. He’s so important in creating space for Embiid and Simmons on offense. Atlanta will be locked on defense at home so Green has to hit his shots or the Hawks will pack the paint to make life hard for Philly’s stars.
Green needs to starting his shots in Game 3, if not, the Philadelphia 76ers will be hard-pressed to win on the road.