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We begin our breakdown of the In-Season Tournament groups with East Group A.

This group is headlined by three playoff teams from 2023: the No. 3 seed Philadelphia 76ers (eliminated in the Eastern Conference semifinals), the No. 4 seed Cleveland Cavaliers (eliminated in the first round) and the No. 7 seed Atlanta Hawks (eliminated in the first round). Rounding out Group A are the Indiana Pacers (who finished 35-47 in 2022-23) and Detroit Pistons (who went 17-65).

When it comes to head-to-head competition between the teams in East Group A, Philadelphia held a commanding edge against the rest of the group last season. The Sixers won the season series with all four opponents and posted a combined record of 12-2 (.857). Cleveland and Atlanta were each 9-5 against the field while Indiana and Detroit went a combined 6-24 against the field.

The disparity in win percentage (.724) between the top and bottom teams in this group is larger than any other group in the In-Season Tournament.

Key matchups to watch

Spoiler:

While we can’t offer specific dates as we wait for the 2023-24 schedule to release, there are a number of intriguing matchups to be played out within East Group A.

Of the 36 total games played between the five teams in this group last season, seven were decided by five points or less. Five of those games featured the Hawks, four involved the Sixers and three included the Pacers. The Cavs and Pistons each only had one such game.

Sixers vs. Hawks
Two of those seven games decided by five points or less among this group featured the Sixers and the Hawks, both of which were won by Philadelphia. In the first game on Nov. 28, the Sixers got 30 points from center Joel Embiid and a 24-point, 10-rebound game from Tobias Harris to defeat the Hawks despite playing without both Harden and Tyrese Maxey. The second close game happened late in the season and saw the Sixers rest their top six players and still outlast the Hawks in overtime, despite a 27-point and career-high 20-assist game from Trae Young.

In four games against the Sixers last year, Young posted 24.5 ppg and 12 apg as Atlanta went 1-3 in those games. Embiid played in only three games, but averaged 32.7 ppg, 10.3 rpg and 5.0 rpg against Atlanta.


Hawks vs. Cavs
After trading double-digit wins early in the season, the rubber match on March 28 gave us the best meeting of the season between Atlanta and Cleveland. The Cavs got 44 points from Mitchell, 27 from Darius Garland and a 20-point, 15-rebound game from Evan Mobley. But it was not enough to counter the balanced effort from the Hawks, who had seven players score in double figures, led by Murray’s 29 points, to earn the 120-118 win.

The Hawks won the season series 2-1 despite the Cavs getting a combined 59.4 ppg from the backcourt of Mitchell (30.7) and Garland (28.7). Atlanta was led by Young (25 ppg, 9.7 apg), Murray (21.7 ppg) and Onyeka Okongwu (17.3 ppg, 10 rpg, 81% FG) against the Cavs last season.


Pistons vs. Hawks
The Hawks were one of only two teams that Cunningham played against more than once last season (the other being Milwaukee), thanks to a two-game set in late October. In two games against Atlanta, Cunningham averaged 30.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg and 7.0 apg in 35 mpg, but the Pistons lost both games.

Young averaged 31.8 ppg and 10.8 apg (compared to just 1.5 turnovers) in four games against the Pistons last season as the Hawks swept the series.

Prediction
Philadelphia edges out Cleveland to represent East Group A

Geaux_Hawks wrote:I'm interested at how high of a level players will actually compete at.

jayu70 wrote:

Geaux_Hawks wrote:I'm interested at how high of a level players will actually compete at.

All the games (except the championship game) count towards the regular season total - so the games matter.

Jamaaliver wrote:It feels obvious.

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