Atlanta Hawks vs. Philadelphia 76ers preview: The Basement

The Atlanta Hawks have won seven consecutive games, and the schedule opens up for them in a positive way on Wednesday night, as they host the Philadelphia 76ers at Philips Arena. To this point, the Sixers are the league’s worst team by a significant margin, but on the “bright” side for Philly, they have won two games in the last 10 days, bringing a little bit of a threat to town that wasn’t there before.

Philadelphia has a great deal of scoring, however, as they boast the worst offense in the NBA. That is an encouraging formula for an Atlanta defense that has been tremendous in recent weeks, and as of earlier in the week, the Hawks are the lone team in the Eastern Conference who ranks in the top 10 (in terms of efficiency) of the league in both offense and defense.

It will be interesting to see what Al Horford, Paul Millsap, Jeff Teague and company have in store for their overmatched counterparts from Philadelphia in this match-up, but because this is the Atlanta Hawks, it may be smart to enter this particular evening with a bit of skepticism. Still, this is a game that the home team should win, and that is the backdrop for Wednesday.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter (@ATLBeatBlog) for more Atlanta Hawks information leading up to the game and check back after the final buzzer for a full recap.