The Atlanta Hawks defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 132-123 on Monday, and they did it without Trae Young. Dyson Daniels filled in in his stead. And despite the victory, the breakout star, Daniels, had a fitting message for his teammates.
Daniels finished the game with 25 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals while shooting 71.4% from the floor and 50% from deep. The Hawks held a 17-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
However, the Sixers outscored them 43-35 in the frame. The ending was not acceptable.
“It’s kind of our playoff run now. We need to win games to get there. And, yeah, they came in undermanned. They still got guys that can play, they play hard, and we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. They’re going to play hard from the get-go, so we just come in and play our game, and I thought the guys really did well. The bench really stepped up, guys came in, played their role,” Daniels told reporters on March 10.
“We need to finish games better. But I thought for about three, three and a half quarters, it was a good game.”
The fourth quarter is the only one the Hawks have a positive scoring differential in on the season. They have mostly been left to play catch-up after slow starts put them into early deficits, even since the trade deadline.
They also faced a Sixers team without Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey.
The Hawks were not without their own laundry list of injured players, with Young joined by rising star Jalen Johnson, Larry Nance Jr., and second-year guard Kobe Bufkin. That was no excuse.
Dyson Daniels puts leadership on display after Hawks beat 76ers
“I feel like when you play like these sort of teams, you have a scout on what they run. But usually, they don’t run that stuff. They just get up and down, play fast, play free, and sometimes those teams are really hard to play against. And they made some tough shots tonight. They made a lot of threes,” Daniels said.
“You can’t come in thinking you’re going to win any NBA game. No matter who’s out there on the floor, they’re going to play hard. They’re in the NBA for a reason. So I thought we did pretty good tonight.”
Daniels said the Hawks were at their best when they set the tone.
With 17 games to go in the regular season, and the Hawks pushing for the playoffs – not just the Play-In Tournament – Daniels’ message is one they can take heed of the rest of the way.
The Hawks will host the Charlotte Hornets, who sit near the bottom of the Eastern Conference (and league) standings. The Hawks close their six-game homestand against the current Western Conference 8-seed, the Los Angeles Clippers.