Atlanta Hawks: 6 Takeaways from 113-92 Loss to 76ers

Mixed Bag for the Hawks Rookies

Coming off arguably the worst performance of his short pro career, Trae Young had a so-so night against the Sixers. With the stretchy Robert Covington and Dario Saric playing deny-defense on him the whole game, Young struggled to get any rhythm going. He finished with 11 points, though a chunk of that total came when the game was already out of hand.

A real problem for the rook is going to be dealing with lengthy rim-protectors. He simply doesn’t have the reach to go around them, and that was on full display last night–getting swatted with authority three times by the Sixers frontcourt.

But while he struggled shooting the rock, going 5 of 13 of the field, he made up for it with a dazzling passing display. Over defenders, under them and through their legs. I mean… c’mon:

Omari Spellman had a solid night, posting 11 points and snatching 6 rebounds in 23 minutes of work, but fellow rookie Kevin Huerter would rather forget about this one. He tossed an impressive lob to Kent Bazemore in the second quarter, and played solid defense on sharpshooter J.J. Redick–but, as Jabari Parker said last week, “They don’t pay players to play defense.”

While I’d quibble with that assertion (see Andre Roberson), Huerter didn’t do much to write home about.

Former Hawk Gets Revenge

Mike Muscala didn’t pull punches in his first game against his former team, dropping 14 points on a scorching 5 of 7 from the field, including 4 three-pointers. “Musky” looked good from deep with his pure shooting stroke on display. He pretty much set up shop in the corners, and made the Atlanta Hawks pay when they didn’t close out fast enough.

Muscala spent the first five seasons of his career with Atlanta, but headed to Philly in the three-team deal that brought Carmelo Anthony to the ATL for what turned out to be a brief but illustrious stay for the now-Houston Rocket.