Atlanta Hawks: 6 Takeaways from Thrilling Win vs. 76ers
By Chris Guest
Tobias Harris Tough Night
As promised, the weakest link for Philadelphia in this game among the starters was its newest acquisition – Tobias Harris. Harris played 36 minutes and was a -11 in on/off rating during that time. He scored 13 points, but it took him 11 shots to get there and he was only 1 of 4 from deep. Not great.
If not for the terrible play of the Atlanta Hawks’ bench (the less said about that, the better), Harris would’ve had the lowest on/off rating of any player in this game. As it is, he had the lowest of any starter featured on either team.
Hawks Pace and Space
Perhaps one of the reasons Philly was unable to pull this one out was the incredible pace at which the game was played. While Ben Simmons can clearly play the way the Atlanta Hawks play, the rest of Philadelphia’s personnel is not particularly suited to a run-and-gun offensive shootout. Embiid is a big, lumbering center (though, of course, he moves with the nimbleness of a ballerina), Butler plays slowly and Harris isn’t the fleetest of foot.
The Atlanta Hawks ended the night with 15 more offensive possessions than the 76ers, despite notching only 1 more offensive rebound. Beyond that, Atlanta doubled up Philly’s three-point attempts: 47 to 23.