Atlanta Hawks: 6 Takeaways from Thrilling Win vs. 76ers

A recap of the most interesting takeaways from the Atlanta Hawks second straight win vs. the Philadelphia 76ers.

For the second time this season, the Atlanta Hawks secured a thrilling two-point win in the final frames of the game against the surging Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers are among the most talented teams in the NBA, with only the Warriors rivaling Philly’s astonishing collection of talent in its starting unit.

Of course, Philly’s bench is another matter entirely, and that definitely came to fruition in this game.

Last time these two teams met, Kevin Huerter (aka Red Pepper) played the hero, and finished the game with a career-high 29 points. In this game, Huerter had two atomic highlights (see below), but he fell well short of that lofty scoring total.

In this tilt, it was the team’s best rookie in franchise history, Trae Young, that delivered the goods and sent Philly packing with its first loss over the past 7 games.

This was a hard-fought affair, with 20 lead changes and 11 ties occurring throughout the course of this one. Philly jumped out to a big lead in the first quarter (41 to 34), but the Atlanta Hawks immediately turned it around with a 40 to 27 second quarter. It was close down the stretch, but the exploits of Young were too much for the 76ers in the end.

Let’s explore the takeaways to this game, starting with Ice Trae:

Ice Trae FTW

Trae Young has had a penchant for hitting huge shots at the end of games, such as when he drilled an insanely deep three in the preseason versus the Spurs, as well as a wide array of clutch buckets against the Chicago Bulls in the instant classic 168-161 quadruple-overtime game the two teams played earlier this season.

In this game, Young was utterly feeling it on offense, and he finished with a gaudy stat line: 32 points, 11 assists and 6 rebounds. Of course, he also hit game-winning floater with 0.1 seconds left on the clock:

This was a masterclass from Young, and the 76ers, even with all their talent, were seemingly powerless to stop him.

Philly’s Big 5 Outplayed

As expected, the Philadelphia starters were generally brilliant, except for a notable exception we’ll get to later. Jimmy Butler and Joel Embiid combined to go 24 of 27 from the free throw line, and Ben Simmons continued his usual onslaught of the Hawks with a robust 21-points, 9-assist, 6-rebound game.

However, Sixers coach Brett Brown really rode the starters in this one, with no Philly starter playing less than 30 minutes. By comparison, Trae Young had the most minutes of any Atlanta Hawks starter with 32.

In the end, Philly’s collection of glitzy stars was thoroughly outplayed by the Atlanta Hawks starters – a fairly surprising occurrence at this juncture.

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.

The Prince That Was Promised

It’s been a while since I’ve dusted off that nickname for Taurean Prince, but since Game of Thrones is right around the corner and Prince played well tonight, it seemed fitting.

Taurean’s three-point shot looked good all night, and he was not forcing shots, which is something he has been guilty of doing in recent weeks. TP had one of his best games in recent memory, and he finished with 23 points on 8 of 15 shooting, including 4 of 10 from three. He was also responsible for tying the game at 127 before Trae Young’s exploits ended the game in scintillating fashion.

Hawks Starters > Philly’s Starters

This was among the best the Atlanta Hawks starters have looked all season. The lowest on/off rating for any Hawks starter was +17, which is an incredibly lofty low. The Atlanta Hawks starters combined for 92 of the team’s 129 points, showing just how reliant the team was on the production of the first unit.

The lowest scoring total (7 points) belongs to Kevin Huerter, but he also had the highest on/off rating on the team (+23) as well as 5 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals and his defense and overall IQ made a huge impact in this game.

This was a thrilling win for the Atlanta Hawks and should augur a bright future for the team.