Horford’s Triple-Double Stops Sixers Streak

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

It turns out that Hawks Coach Mike Budenholzer picked up more than on-court x’s and o’s from his former mentor Gregg Popovich. With Atlanta starting a 4-games-in-5-nights stretch Tuesday night in Philadelphia, Budenholzer pulled a Pop and sat starters Jeff Teague, Paul Millsap, and DeMarre Carroll, plus reserve big man Pero Antic. With the Hawks purposely running out a depleted lineup, it seemed to open the door for the Sixers to go after their first 3-game winning streak of the season.

For most of the first half, it looked like the Sixers might hang around, as a Tony Wroten-to-K.J. McDaniels alley-oop brought the Sixers back within 5 with 90 seconds before halftime. However, just moments before, announcer Marc Zumoff had announced it wasn’t Kyle Korver’s night, after the former Sixer was errant on his first three shots (all threes), and even missed a free throw. Unfortunately, the announcer’s jinx was in full effect, as Korver finally found his rhythm, hitting threes on the next two possessions; he wouldn’t miss the rest of the game, finishing 5-8 (4-7 from three) for 15 points. Mike Scott gave Atlanta yet another triple on their final possession, and the Hawks entered the half with a 12-point lead that would only grow coming out of the break.

Atlanta’s unselfish play was on full display throughout the contest, as the team with the highest assist % in the NBA racked up 34 assists (compared to just 20 for the Sixers), helping them to the open looks needed to shoot 12-23 from behind the arc. With Teague shackled to the bench, the baton of orchestrating the offense was passed to center Al Horford, who responded with his first career triple-double, recording 21 points on 8-10 shooting, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. The Hawks continually worked the pick-and-pop with Horford, with Big Al either easily knocking down those open 18-footers, or finding his teammates if the Sixers’ weak-side defense rotated over to him. It wasn’t flashy, but each and every possession, Horford made the right decision and put on a clinic in efficient, unselfish basketball.

While the Sixers weren’t able to slow down the Hawks attack, they did do some nice things offensively, particularly from their pair of second-round picks. K.J. McDaniels continued his recent stretch of good shooting, going 5-9 from the field for 14 points. He was 2-3 from three, and has now gone 6-11 behind the arc over his last 5 games. He also provided the obligatory K.J. McDaniels highlight of the night, breaking out the Wicked soundtrack by defying gravity here:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwtzL4UBiKA]

Jerami Grant also shot the ball well, making 5-7 from the field, including 2 threes, for a career-high 13 points. Like McDaniels, Grant has been hot from the perimeter, making 6-8 threes over his last 3 games. Any competent outside shooting from the Syracuse rookie does so much to raise the ceiling of his NBA potential. On nights like these when the Sixers fail to be competitive, those are the small victories fans have to look toward. We’ll look for those small steps, plus hopefully a better overall effort from the team at large, when the Sixers take the court in Toronto tonight.

Other Game Notes:

• Tony Wroten suffered a right knee sprain, landing awkwardly after jumping up to defend a shot fake. It was the kind of non-contact injury that never looks good, and Wreckin’ Ball is not expected to make the trip to Toronto.
• For the second time in four games, Robert Covington had an off shooting night, going 2-13 from the field, and 0-7 from three. Ironically, it came on a night when the rest of the team shot well, with the Sixers going .500 behind the arc excluding Covington. They probably stay in this game throughout if Big Shot Bob has a normal night, but it’s not exactly fair to never expect him to have a down game.
• Returning from a prolonged absence due to an upper respiratory infection, Hollis Thompson looked good in limited minutes. The Sixers had considered sending him down to the D-league to get his conditioning worked out, but it didn’t seem to be needed. Thompson finished 3-4 from the field, hitting his lone three-point attempt and sinking a couple nice runners. More importantly, he never seemed to be laboring out on the court; good to have him back out there.
• Michael Carter-Williams actually shot the ball well, finishing 8-13 for a team-high 20 points (the first time in 10 games he shot over .500 from the field). However, he also had 5 turnovers and played poor defense on Dennis Schroder. MCW still largely seems lost on pick-and-roll defense, which is concerning, given it’s the foundation of about 90% of teams’ offensive sets in today’s NBA.