The Atlanta Hawks are in the midst of their longest homestand of the season, with six consecutive games held at State Farm Arena. While that stretch began with a close-fought loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, the Hawks responded with back-to-back victories over the Indiana Pacers and looked ahead to a potentially friendlier matchup against the struggling Philadelphia 76ers on Monday. Ultimately, Atlanta controlled the game for much of the night, prevailing over Philadelphia by a 132-123 margin to secure a third-straight win.
Candidly, this was not a game that will inspire coverage at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, largely due to the roster situations on both sides. Philadelphia is decimated by injuries, and the 76ers were operating without Joel Embiid, Paul George, Tyrese Maxey, Kelly Oubre Jr., and others in this matchup. In fact, Nick Nurse's team had only nine players available, and Philadelphia's personnel was so dire that Atlanta was as big of a betting favorite (9.5 points at tip-off) as it had been all season, even on a night in which Trae Young (quad contusion) and Caris LeVert (finger sprain) were in street clothes.
Entering Monday night, the Hawks had a dismal 102.3 offensive rating in 920 minutes with Young on the bench this season. Atlanta's inability to generate consistent offense without its star point guard is not a new problem, but it has been even more magnified in the wake of the season-ending injury to Jalen Johnson. In addition, offensive struggles can lead to rock fights and, well, rock fights can lead to unwanted variance against an undermanned opponent like Philadelphia.
The Hawks offense stepped up against the 76ers
However, the Hawks faced no such problems on this night. Atlanta averaged 1.29 points per possession in the game, putting consistent pressure on the rim throughout the evening. The Hawks scored 76 points in the paint and 29 fast break points, with Atlanta also posting 63.4 percent true shooting with 34 assists.
After the game, Hawks head coach Quin Snyder spoke on what those 34 assists signaled about the health of Atlanta's offense, even on a night without Young and LeVert.
“It's something we talked about this morning," Snyder said. "I think the thing that gets us sometimes is, when we don't space properly, it's hard to pass the ball to someone that's not spaced or not ready for it. Our guys really embraced that tonight, and it's an unselfish group. Running and spacing sound really simple, because they are in theory, but when you get out there, there is a level of discipline and commitment that you have to play with in order to make those things happen. And we were spaced. Guys are willing to pass to each other and make an extra pass if that's the case, and it's good basketball.”
It was a total team effort for the Hawks on the offensive end, with six players scoring 14 points or more and each player who saw the court producing at least one assist. However, Dyson Daniels took on a much larger creation role with Young sidelined, and he finished the night leading the team with 25 points and nine assists. Daniels was hyper-efficient, converting 10 of his 14 shot attempts, and his maturation and development as an on-ball weapon has helped to unlock Atlanta's offense, with and without Young.
Elsewhere, No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher enjoyed a highly productive evening. He finished with 22 points on 16 shooting possessions to go along with eight rebounds and helpful defensive impact. That continues a very impressive uptick from Risacher, who is averaging 14.2 points on 51.9 percent shooting and 47 percent from three-point range over the last 18 games.
All in all, the Hawks largely took care of business on this night. While it is a rarity that the Hawks would enter a game as a comfortable betting favorite with Trae Young, Jalen Johnson, Caris LeVert, and Larry Nance Jr. sidelined, Atlanta was simply the better team and showed it for the majority of 48 minutes. Things got a bit dicey in crunch time, with Atlanta's lead trimmed to five points in the final minute, but the night marked a nice step for the Hawks in being able to function, or even excel, even in a shorthanded situation.
The Hawks will continue their lengthy homestand with a matchup against the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday before hosting old friend Bogdan Bogdanovic and the L.A. Clippers on Friday evening.