Game Thread: Hawks at Philadelphia -- 10/30

[Jamaaliver]

Sixers welcome Hawks to town in an East Semifinals rematch



In their first meeting since last spring’s Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Philadelphia 76ers (3-2) and Atlanta Hawks (3-2) will clash inside Wells Fargo Center Saturday evening. The Sixers enter this contest fresh off a closer-than-needed victory over the Detroit Pistons, while the Hawks’ comeback efforts fell short against the Washington Wizards on Thursday.

Saturday marks Philadelphia’s third opportunity to register its first win against a playoff-caliber opponent. They’ve defeated three lottery-bound squads, blew a big lead at home to the struggling Brooklyn Nets and were outclassed against the New York Knicks. The Sixers are 3-2, but it hasn’t been an entirely encouraging start, even independent of Ben Simmons’ absence. A win over the Hawks, who have also admittedly been a little slow out of the gates, could help kick-start this team into gear.

Doing so, of course, requires containing Trae Young in some capacity. Despite all his offensive warts in the playoffs, Simmons’ presence greatly helped limit the superstar guard. Maybe Matisse Thybulle gets the call to start this game. If he doesn’t, Tyrese Maxey probably assumes the task because Danny Green certainly shouldn’t handle the assignment. Among James Harden, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Kemba Walker through five games, it’s been quite the gamut of offensive players for Maxey to defend already.

Offensively, it feels like a lot of the success hinges on Embiid’s jumper or foul-drawing. With the frequency at which Embiid is operating on the perimeter these days, weak-side actions that take advantage of Capela leaving the paint would be worthwhile. When Embiid is in the mid-post, I expect Atlanta to flood help in the paint and aim to bother his dribble on face-ups. Embiid will have to be crisp with his handle and perimeter shooters will have to be primed to fire or quickly swing the ball down the line for an open look.

On both ends of the floor, with or without Simmons, the Hawks are such a fascinating opponent for the Sixers. How they handle this opportunity should reveal some interesting developments schematically.

Philadelphia SB Nation

[Jamaaliver]

The matchup in four key stats:

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[Jamaaliver]

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[ducler]

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[jayu70]

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This weekend the Atlanta Hawks face the 76ers in Philadelphia for the first time since Game 7, or, more specific to this discussion, since Collins wore that shirt depicting his dunk over Joel Embiid, to the postgame press conference after the Hawks stunned the Sixers in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

It was the height of braggadocio, moxy, ego. Or as the kids call it these days, “swag.”

“Yeah I would say (that’s swag),” Collins told me. “A lot of people ask me why I did that? Joel got me. Right in this arena, he dunked on me really bad, he got me. And he shimmied in my face and he pushed me after he dunked on me. And I took that as personally as one could take it, and I made a vow to him and to myself, I said ‘I am going to get yo ass back.’ I told him just like that, ‘I am gonna get yo ass back.’ I wasn’t rushing the process when it happened. I just knew one of these days, I’m coming, I’m coming for your head. That’s how you would act when you dunked on me, I’m gonna do something.

“It happened to be perfect timing, the way it (was) executed and not to say that I am happy, but I am satisfied.”

Love it!

[HMFFL]

3.5 pt underdog? Let's get the road win.

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[Jamaaliver]

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[HMFFL]

Excellent shooting by Cam!

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[jayu70]

No defense, No offense.

[ChuckChilly]

We don't look in sync at all

[jayu70]

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[leo7]

Hard to win when you're playing against the refs too.

[Jamaaliver]

This as the 3rd game in 4 days -- outcome seemed inevitable.

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Dominant defense from Matisse Thybulle helps propel Philadelphia to victory

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On Saturday night, the Sixers got their first crack at revenge as they hosted the Hawks for the first of three meetings between the two teams on the season, and they were clearly eager for the opportunity.

Thanks to some stout defense, the Sixers jumped out to an early 28-15 lead after one quarter of action, and they never really looked back as they were largely able to keep the Hawks at arms' length for the rest of the contest. At halftime, the Sixers led 60-46, and after three quarters their lead stood at 89-69. When all was said and done, the Sixers walked away with an impressive 122-94 victory.

Tobias Harris led the way for Philadelphia with 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Joel Embiid added 19 points and five rebounds of his own. In all, the Sixers had six players score in double-figures, compared to just four for Atlanta. Cam Reddish paced the Hawks with 16 points off of the bench, while Trae Young and Danilo Gallinari both added 13 points.

Thybulle's dominant defense

Matisse Thybulle put on a defensive clinic in the first half of the contest against Atlanta. In the first half alone, Thybulle had a steal that led directly to two free throws for Philadelphia, and he also had two emphatic blocks on Hawks guard Cam Reddish. On one of them, Thybulle swatted a Reddish corner three attempt a few rows deep into the stands. On the other one, he just completely swallowed a Reddish midrange pullup. Here's a quick look at both blocks:

Spoiler:

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Thybulle wasn't done there, either. He added three more steals and another block in the second half. Thybulle finished the game with 11 points, but it was on the defensive end of the floor where he was really a difference-maker in this one.

A pedestrian performance from Young

Trae Young was electric against the Sixers in the playoffs last season, but that wasn't the case on Saturday night. In 32 minutes of action, Young finished with just 13 points while shooting just five of 16 from the floor, and one of four from long range. He was also a game low -23 during his time on the floor. He did finish with 10 assists, but his overall impact was limited thanks to some solid individual defense from guys like Thybulle and Tyrese Maxey, and good overall team defense from Philadelphia. Not every performance can be a great one, and it's safe to say that Young will want to push this one out of his memory pretty quickly.

CBS Sports

[CP War Hawks]

Guys need to stop complaining and adjust. The offense is okay, players are playing defense like they want to get moved.

Bogi and Huerter have been a collective disaster so far. Cam needs to start over both guys. Ball handling for the starting unit is still and issue outside of Trae