Atlanta Hawks Fall Asleep in 4th, Fall to Sixers

Sharing notes on the Atlanta Hawks’ 129-112 loss to the Sixers.

The Atlanta Hawks looked to win three straight for the first time this season, traveling to Philly to take on the Sixers.

It was just one of those nights for the Hawks from the get, with the team struggling mightily to score or stop the Sixers from scoring. Philly made 14 of their first 19 shots from the field, going up 21 in the first. Atlanta record six turnovers and shot 33.3 percent from the field in the first period.

Joel Embiid was unstoppable, on the boards and in the paint. He had 17 points and four rebounds midway through the 2nd period. The Hawks were missing easy shots, the Sixers were making hard shots.

The teams shared runs throughout the quarter, with the Hawks able to bring it back down to 11 at one point. A 12-4 run by the Sixers ended the half, with them taking a 69-52 lead into the break.

In the third, a Trae Young shot attempted closer to the logo than the three-point dropped, cutting the lead back to single-digits.

A few minutes later, Philly native De’Andre Hunter hit a deep shot to cut the once 21-point deficit to three. The Hawks took their first lead since 5-3 when Trae Young beat the third quarter buzzer, going ahead 92-91. Atlanta outscored the home Sixers 40-22 in the third period.

De’Andre Hunter scored 16 points in the quarter.

After keeping pace with the Sixers in the early minutes of the fourth, the Hawks could not keep up when Philly’s defense stiffened.

They had just 10 fourth quarter points with 4:00 to go, and had a very hard time stopping the Sixers — specifically Embiid. He finished with a career-high 19 by toasting Dewayne Dedmon and John Collins all night. He scored 19 in the fourth.

The Hawks lost 129-112.

Box Score Notes:

• No Brandon Goodwin tonight, who recorded a DNP along with Damian Jones.
• Atlanta was out-scored 38-22 after taking a one-point lead into the fourth.
• For the 2nd straight game Trae Young had a bit of a slow first half, but he still managed 28 points and 10 assists.
• De’Andre Hunter made just 6 of 15 shots but still finished with 21 points, his most since December 13th.
• Kevin Huerter recorded a team worst +/- of -24, his worst number since January 12th.

The Hawks drop to 17-42, still without a three-game winning streak on the season.

They’ll look to rebound on Wednesday, returning home to play Orlando.