Atlanta Hawks: Second Half Collapse Equals Second Straight Loss
The Atlanta Hawks went toe to toe with the heavily favored Philadelphia 76ers on their home court for two quarters. They failed to hold up in the third quarter, suffering a 92-113 defeat to the 76ers.
The Atlanta Hawks got off to a good start in their quest to get a win for head coach Lloyd Peirce, against his former team. Kent Bazemore scored eight points in the first quarter and the Hawks led by five after one. Trae Young scored two points and dished two assists.
The second quarter was hotly contested and JJ Reddick scored eight points to tie the game at 47 going into halftime. Trae Young led a balanced Atlanta attack, with five points and two assists in the period.
The Atlanta Hawks moved the ball well and attacked the basket hard in the first half. The young Hawks were holding their own, doing a good job of staying step for step with a team that’s an Eastern Conference favorite.
The third quarter saw Philly change the course of the game outscoring the Hawks 13-31. The Hawks went cold from the field, and Ben Simmons asserted himself. The 6’10 point guard scored 15 points and handed out threes assist in the quarter. Kent Bazemore scored five for Atlanta.
The 76ers continued made many jump shots in the fourth quarter. Former Hawk Mike Muscala made two of his four threes in the quarter. Moose who was traded to Philly in the deal that sent Dennis Schröder to the Thunder and Justin Anderson to Atlanta, scored 14 points for the 76ers.
Trae Young had four points and three assist in the fourth quarter as the Hawks were outscored 32-35 by the 6ers. Young’s two baskets came on two beautiful dribble drives. The second of which he put a whirling spin move on Robert Covington and layed the ball in off the glass.
Kent Bazemore led the Atlanta Hawks in scoring shooting 7/16 and 2/5 from downtown on the evening. Kent also registered three rebounds, two steals, and two blocks.
Rookie point guard Trae Young scored 11 points on 5/13 shooting from the field. He played a nice floor game adjusting to being trapped by Philadelphia. Trae dished out a team high eight assists and had an impressive zero turnovers.
Atlanta did a great job overall, limiting the turnovers to just 13, two below the magic number of 15. No Hawks player had more than three.
Rookie power forward Omari Spellman, who played his college ball in the area at Villanova, chipped in 11 points and grabbed six rebounds off the bench. Center Dewayne Dedmon also added 11 points and pulled down five boards.
Atlanta Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce used a trapping double teaming defense, against 76ers big man Joel Embiid. Pierce even used center Dewayne Dedmon at power as the guy to double Embiid at one point. The strategy held Embiid to just ten points, six rebounds and four turnovers.