Atlanta Hawks take advantage of the banged up Philadelphia 76ers – Grades

The Atlanta Hawks hosted the banged-up Philadelphia 76ers, taking the game easily to hopefully get their season back on track.

The Atlanta Hawks hosted the banged-up Philadelphia 76ers in a must-win game for both franchises. The 76ers needed to keep the high position in the standings, while the Hawks needed to stop their four-game losing skid.

The game started as expected with the 76ers feeding the ball to Joel Embiid at every opportunity. The big man delivered with 16 points and the 76ers benefitted, opening up a lead in the first period. Then the Hawks came back with 3-balls from John Collins, Trae Young, and Cam Reddish. They were helped by the pressure of Brandon Goodwin.

The Hawks exploded in the second quarter, rather than blowing up as they did in the past four games. Collins hit two 3-point shots and made several assists which opened up the paint and then Young took over. He got the ball to Clint Capela and others to punish the 76ers, opening up a 15 point lead at the main break. They also doubled Embiid on defense which made a huge difference.

Atlanta Hawks bench played big minutes in the second half

With the job being done in the first half the Hawks starters sat most of the second half. This meant the bench played extended minutes which gave the coaching staff a good chance to evaluate their players. It also gave the starters a good chance to rest as this was the first of five games in eight days.

The Hawks bench managed to maintain the lead and we even had our first Tony Snell sighting of the season. With all of this in mind, let’s grade the performance of the Atlanta Hawks players in the win over the 76ers.