Atlanta Hawks: A healthy Philadelphia 76ers was a bridge too far
The Atlanta Hawks have defied all expectations this season. They have won with John Collins out. They have won with Trae Young out, they have won with Bogdan Bogdanovic out. They have not had the services of De’Andre Hunter or Cam Reddish for a long time.
Yet, interim coach Nate McMillan has guided his team through this road with all the injury potholes quite successfully. However, when they took on a fully healthy Philadelphia 76ers ball club, it was a bridge too far for even these Hawks.
If you remember the last time these two teams met the 76ers were struck hard with health and safety protocols and injury. They only had Joel Embiid as the lone significant starter. Naturally, the Hawks took advantage of this and beat the 76ers quite convincingly.
The Atlanta Hawks felt the boot on the other foot.
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This time when the two teams met, the Hawks were the one riddled with injury and the 76ers took care of business by a cool 44 points. That is expected for the second-best team in the NBA taking on a team with half of their players on the sidelines, including their starting backcourt and wing.
Collins battled his heart out and managed to collect 21 points and four rebounds. Clint Capela is still obviously struggling with his back and was taking on a potential MVP candidate in Embiid. Kris Dunn was still on a heavy minutes restriction and Lou Williams was coming back after not feeling well.
To say the odds were stacked against the Hawks in this one is an understatement. One positive note was that Dunn scored his first points as an Atlanta Hawks player and got some more game time into his body.
Next. Predicting the lineups when healthy. dark
The scary thing for the Hawks is they play the 76ers next, in the same building tomorrow. With luck, there will be better news on the injury report and they will have more troops to deploy against the team which has paced the Eastern Conference all year.