Atlanta Hawks studs and duds from encouraging win over the 76ers

The Atlanta Hawks got an encouraging and surprising (all things considered) 98-96 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday. If they hadn’t made such a deep run in last year’s postseason, we might view their 15-16 record and ranking 10th in the East in a very different light. As it stands, nights like that only make one question the events from the night before.

Philly had won by the same score in the previous meeting three weeks ago.

Coming off of a very disheartening 104-98 loss at home to the Orlando Magic, a game in which they were favored, the Hawks were underdogs on the road against Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers.

Despite having lost their last seven games at home in State Farm Arena, the Hawks have managed to win six straight on the road.

The Christmas day game against the New York Knicks means getting this one is huge.

The Atlanta Hawks did themselves a huge favor with their win over Philly

Cam Reddish led the Hawks with 18 points on 53.8 percent shooting with three assists, one rebound, one steal, and two turnovers. He also went 4-for-4 from the charity stripe but was 0-for-3 from beyond the arc. He didn’t have his usual defense either, with Seth Curry scoring seven of his 12 points on the third-year wing.

He, along with Delon Wright (five points, six assists, five rebounds), had to leave the game with injuries of unknown severity. Reddish attempted to come back on the floor twice after his injury but was unable to gut it out.

Nate McMillian said he thought he was dealing more with cramping than an actual injury.

Skylar Mays bounced back tremendously with a 14-point, 11-rebound effort that saw him shoot 54.5 percent and tally three assists and a steal as well as hold Tyrese Maxey in check. The 76ers young scorer had just two points on 1-of-4 shooting when Mays was on him.

Bogdan Bogdanovic put the finishing touches on the night, going 4-of-7 from the floor for 10 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter.

Atlanta Hawks stud from encouraging win: The starting bigs stepped on both ends of the floor

As good as the others mentioned before were, this game was about the bigs with Embiid and Tobias Harris matching up with Onyeka Okongwu and John Collins, respectively.  Embiid had a game-high 23 points but he had to work to get there, shooting 35.3 percent overall. He made up for it by going 2-for-2 from deep and 9-for-10 from the free-throw line.

Okongwu held him to 5-of-14 shooting while Collins kept him at two points on 1-of-2 shooting.

The Sixers big man went for 28 points and 11 boards in the last outing while shooting 43.5 percent from the floor.

Harris didn’t suit up in the previous matchup but did lead Philly with 22 points and 11 rebounds in the first meeting, which they won going away, with Embiid held to just 19 points on 38.5 percent shooting.

He had 16 points on 35.7 percent shooting in this one, needing to go 6-for-6 at the stripe to get there going 2-for-4 against Collins for six of his points. He did have a bit more success against Okongwu going 3-for-5 on the USC product.

Offensively, Collins had 17 points, five boards, one assist, and one steal. 12 of those points came on Harris’ head on 5-of-7 shooting. Meanwhile, Okongwu chipped in 13 points, eight boards, three assists, three blocks, and one steal. He got eight of his points while shooting 4-of-7 with Embiid on him.

Collins praised the energy Okongwu brought despite the loss to the Magic on Wednesday and it was apparent in this one as well.

Atlanta Hawks dud from encouraging win: It wasn’t the best of debuts for one wing player

Wesley Iwundu joined the Hawks as one of three players on hardship exemptions. The Hawks are dealing with a number of players out due to either injury or (mostly) health and safety protocols including Trae Young, Kevin Huerter, and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, to whom Iwundu compared favorably.

His first game in a Hawks uniform was anything but encouraging as he went just 1-of-5 from the floor, finishing with just two points. He did grab five rebounds and had just one turnover and two personal fouls in over 23 minutes.

Iwundu also had a rather mediocre showing on the defensive end.

His assignments go 5-for-10. Harris, Embiid, and Seth Curry did combine to go 0-for-5 against him, the former two in limited minutes.

However, Maxey and Matisse Thybulle combined to go 4-for-4 overall and 1-for-1 from downtown for nine points. The former Magic and Dallas Mavericks guard finished a team-worst minus-nine.

Of course, one game shouldn’t make or break a player. If Iwundu continues getting minutes he should grow more comfortable.

We could have gone with rookie Jalen Johnson who, despite playing less than five minutes, was 0-for-1, called for a foul, and drew constructive criticism from Travis Schlenk – who joined the broadcast – for looking for a foul instead of immediately getting back down the floor. Schlenk also noted that Johnson isn’t where he needs to be with his defense just yet.

Johnson was a minus-six.

Johnson will have a chance to have a better showing on Christmas against the Knicks. But Iwundu became the latest to enter health and safety protocols because of course he did.