Sixers Host Red-Hot Hawks

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

While the Sixers, winners of 3 of their last 4 games, are on a hot streak in their own right, Tuesday night’s opponent has been on a whole other plane of success recently. The Hawks have won 8 straight games, a stretch that includes wins against the Trailblazers, Clippers, Grizzlies, and Wizards. That surge has helped Atlanta to assume pole position in the Eastern Conference and the 3rd-best record in the NBA overall. This isn’t a case of a team beating up on their weaker Eastern Conference brethren either, as Atlanta is an outstanding 10-2 against the juggernaut Western Conference. Add it all up and the Hawks have gone from underrated playoff team to serious title contender.

Deservedly so, much of the credit for the Hawks’ success has gone to Coach Mike Budenholzer, who is lauded as one of the best offensive minds in the game, but actually has his team top-6 in the league in both offense and defense. The fact that they can do all this without the ‘quote-unquote’ superstar is even more impressive. Al Horford’s return to health this season, combined with some savvy mid-tier free agent acquisitions, have provided Budenholzer with a deep, balanced roster of players with whom to mold his systems. Guys like Thabo Sefolosha and Pero Antic can slot in off the bench, with the Hawks sporting much better defensive ratings when they’re on the court, likely because they’ve well above opposing teams’ reserves.

Much of what Atlanta tries to do offensively revolves around setting screen after screen for Kyle Korver, who has the 2nd-highest respect rating in the entire league, a statistic which, in a nutshell, measures how far a defender is willing to stray off a player. Korver has earned that respect by making 3.0 threes per game on a remarkable mark of 52.4% shooting, but defenders’ reluctance to come off only helps open up driving lanes for Jeff Teague, and space to operate for Paul Millsap and Al Horford. In the teams’ first meeting a month ago, Korver got loose for 5 threes on just 7 attempts; the Sixers will have to be more cognizant of where he is at all times on the court this time around.

Like his former organization the Spurs, Budenholzer has the Hawks eschewing crashing the offensive glass (Atlanta has the 2nd-lowest offensive rebounding percentage) in favor of getting back to prevent fast break opportunities. That opposing strategy will make things difficult for the Sixers, who obviously rely heavily on points in transition to avoid the half court play when the offense can tend to stagnate. If the Sixers are going to remain in this game, they’ll have to rely on guys to space the floor for them after the Hawks get back defensively; that means Robert Covington behind the arc and Henry Sims hitting his mid-range jumper.

After missing 11 games with an upper respiratory infection, Hollis Thompson is expected to make his return to the lineup. The illness was so severe, that Thompson lost 20 pounds during his absence, although he’s reportedly put a good amount of that weight back on. I wouldn’t expect him to be able to log major minutes tonight, but any additional outside shooting he could provide would be a boost for a Sixers team that is inconsistent at best in that area.

Ultimately, the Hawks are simply too diverse offensively, and built to exploit a young Sixers defense that still tends to break down if the opposition is committed to working the ball around. Defensively, they have committed to stopping fast breaks and don’t foul (3rd-lowest opposition free throws attempted rate), the two areas the Sixers need to rely on each game given their relative paucity of shooters on the roster. Last week was fun, and I’m sure the boys will be dancing with the cheerleaders again soon, but I don’t think it will be tonight.