Energetic Atlanta Hawks fall to 76ers in 7th straight loss

A sloppy start and finish for the away team at the Wells Fargo Center doomed the Atlanta Hawks in what ended as a 119-109 loss. This was the 7th loss in a row after a win to start the season.

As is this team’s wont, the Hawks fought hard for large portions of this contest, and after a tough 1st quarter in which the 76ers jumped out to a 17-advantage, these young Hawks battled back to force the game into a tie going into the 4th quarter, 93-93.

Sadly though, the Hawks just didn’t have the juice to finish this one and the 76ers definitely did —with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons both looking like the real deal (and definitely worthy of their high draft picks, #trusttheprocess).

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In terms of team performance, the Hawks’ calling card of ball movement and aggressive drives to the hoop were adopted wholesale by the Philadelphia 76ers, as the home team made 46 shots from the field on an astonishing 36 assists.

An important barometer for the Hawks’ success is 3-point attempt discrepancy, and once again, the Hawks were outshot by a huge margin — the 76ers were 11 of 35 from downtown and the Hawks were 8 of 23.

In terms of individual players, there were some interesting developments in this game.

Taurean Prince‘s stat line jumps off the page with 17 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal in a career-high 39 minutes of play, though he was tied with Kent Bazemore for lowest +/- with a -16.

The Prince That Was Promised looked pretty sharp in this one, as he crashed the boards with authority, limited his turnovers (he had just one) and even had a few nifty drives, one of which employed a Kyrie-esque, behind-the-back ball fake, which led to layup.

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As usual, Dennis Schröder led the Hawks in points with 25 on an efficient 10 of 17 shooting, including 2-2 from beyond the arc. Schröder took a ton of punishment in this game, but his direct line drives to the basket are still impossible for most teams to stop (76ers included).

Seeing the two 3s go down is a good sign too, as he looked very comfortable shooting them. Taking more three-pointers might be a good recipe for Dennis going forward, especially in order to save his body from the wear-and-tear that he takes on a game-to-game basis.

Marco Belinelli, after some stellar shooting performances to start the season, returned to Earth with 8 points on a 2-11 shooting night (1-7 from 3-point territory). This is par for the course, as Belinelli is a streaky shooter who is oftentimes creating his own shot — these kind of games will happen.

Speaking of “these kind of games will happen,” John Collins had another forgettable yet action-packed night. In a paltry 13 minutes, Collins racked up 7 points, 7 rebounds (an incredible 6 of which were of the offensive variety), 2 assists, 1 block and (and this is the kicker) 6 personal fouls.

While fouling out of the game in just over 1 quarter of in-game time is less than ideal, Collins still showed plenty of energy and is still the most exciting player on the Hawks. He could’ve had quite a few more points, too, as he had at least 3 easy putbacks that he just botched — the kinds of things that will come with more time in the league (and maybe more than 13 minutes of playing time).

In an expected move, Coach Bud opted for Isaiah Taylor as the primary backup to Schröder and sliding Malcolm Delaney over to the two-guard spot. Taylor’s relentless energy and impressive Schröder-esque speed in the previous game looked to be a perfect replacement for when Dennis is off the floor.

This move paid dividends immediately, as the Hawks rallied around Taylor and Delaney’s new roles. Delaney in particular was impressive, with a perfect 100-percent true shooting percentage (from the field, three-point, and free throw) on 4 attempts. Delaney was truly energized without the burden of handling the ball in Schröder’s absence, and this freedom allowed Delaney to optimize his skill set.

Taylor was hyper-aggressive on offense, with some impressive, violent drives to the hoop sometimes surprising the bruising frontcourt players on the 76ers to the tune of 8 points on 4 of 9 shooting in 18 minutes to go along with a +/- of +5.

https://twitter.com/ATLHawks/status/925872445369675776

Delaney was excellent in his 9 minutes, but that total could’ve been higher if he hadn’t suffered a mild ankle sprain and missed the rest of the game. Delaney was a +6.

The other bench player to impress was Luke Babbitt. Though a little too much of the offense fell on his shoulders in the 4th quarter, he was +4 in 24 minutes of play with 16 points on 7 of 12 shooting (2-4 from three and 5 rebounds, as well as an amusing crossover on Robert Covington that dropped RoCo to the floor.

It was good to see Babbitt break out with a nice game, as he had underwhelmed early in his Hawks’ tenure. Perhaps this will open the door for him getting more playing time, as his spot-up shooting and steady scoring would be welcomed with open arms.

Next: DeAndre’ Bembry out 4-6 weeks with fractured right wrist

The Hawks return to Phillips Arena on Friday night for a 7:30 tip-off against James Harden and the Chris Paul-less Houston Rockets.