The Atlanta Hawks (12-10) have flipped their season on its ear since the last time they faced the Philadelphia 76ers, their opponent on Friday. That game, a 122-94 defeat, is still the Hawks worst loss up to this point and the second-largest margin of any game they have played this season, win or loss.
That game saw Atlanta shoot 27.3 percent from the floor on their way to 15 first-quarter points, their lowest total in a single quarter this season.
A 13-point first-quarter lead led to the 76ers outscoring the Hawks in every quarter.
John Collins needs to have a better outing against Tobias Harris this time around
There weren’t many Hawks who performed up to snuff in the first meeting. The two who were won’t be available in this game after Bogdan Bogdanovic and Cam Reddish — who combined for 29 points on 52 percent shooting overall and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc — both suffered injuries against the New York Knicks.
The duo also had six rebounds and three steals between them.
Atlanta will also be without De’Andre Hunter who had just seven points in the first matchup but also erroneously caught flack for letting Philly’s Tobias Harris go off.
In actuality, that dubious honor belonged to John Collins, who caught 15 of Harris’ 22 points. He had eight points, seven boards, three assists, and two steals in that game. That’s quite the stat line in terms of doing some of everything for his team.
But he shot just 33.3 percent overall.
They needed more scoring from their second-best player. That will be truer than ever in this one given the injuries they’ve since sustained. They have, seemingly, gotten stronger as they have lost a couple of key pieces. Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot filled in admirably in his first start of the season.
All of that is nice. But, if the Hawks want to exact revenge for their earlier dud, Collins has to step up.
To his credit, his defense has gotten better since that rough stretch. And, while he hasn’t put up gaudy point totals, he has been in his “sweet spot” with 16.5 points per game since the first game of the Hawks undefeated homestand.
Atlanta is 10-1 this season when Collins scores from 14 to 23 points. Anything more or less and they are just 2-9.
It helps that this game will be at State Farm Arena where the Hawks are 8-2 this season and have scored over four points more per game. Philly is 6-6 and scores about five fewer points per game when on the road. The Sixers have also gone 1-2 as Joel Embiid returns from his COVID-related absence.