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Official Game Thread: Hawks - 76ers

lethalweapon3

By lethalweapon3
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lethalweapon3

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(REMINDER: NO LOCAL TV again tonight! 92.9 FM might be available online if they fix their feed)
Alright, Sixers. Stop playin’. No, really, I mean it!

The Philadelphia 76ers are 5-4 and ballin’ outta control, perhaps beyond the control of their own management at this point. They’re fighting for victories up until the final buzzer as if, no, they’d rather not pair up Andrew Wiggins with Nerlens Noel in 2014. No tanks!

My theory still holds that they’re gonna pull a Bobcats. Get everyone all in a lather over how well they’re doing in November, get up above their nadir of 9-73, then let the bottom fall out. To get to Magic Number 10, though, they’ll want to pull off their second win in three road games tonight, at the Highlight Factory (7:30 PM Eastern, CSN Philly, 92.9 FM Local Radio). Their sole road loss was a double-OT defeat versus Kyrie’s Cavs.

Whether my theory holds water or not, Brett Brown is in town having proven Mike Budenholzer wasn’t the only head coaching prize from the Spurs’ sagacious stable. Brown was a former star for Rick Pitino at Boston U. who was recruited out of Australian-league coaching by the Spurs. He became the Spurs player development director before moving up to assistant coach in 2007 alongside lead assistant Bud.

Brown admits being taken aback by how well his troops have maintained composure and succeeded despite low-expectations. He’s instilled a free-wheeling offensive gameplan without a whole lot of set plays – 101.8 possessions per 48 minutes, 2nd highest pace in the league right now. One could argue opponents won’t know what’s coming because the Sixers themselves don’t know either. Despite an average efficiency, the pace is high enough that Philadelphia is averaging a pretty wild 105.8 PPG, a far cry from the dead-last per-game scoring ranks from 2012-13 (93.2 PPG).

The latest stone-cold stunner was Philly’s 123-117 defusing of the Houston Rockets on Wednesday. Granted, the Rockets did not have James Harden at their disposal. But the Sixers managed to pull it off without an emerging star of their own, rookie point guard sensation Michael Carter-Williams, who made his grand entrance with a dousing of the world champion HEAT in his career debut.

This win was highlighted by a game-saving three-pointer by James Anderson, for three of his career-high 36 points. Yes, the same James Anderson cut by the Hawks in Preseason 2012 after shooting just 23.8% in limited action. If he goes off again tonight, you’re likely to hear that fact again. Hobbled by a bruised foot, MCW will be watching tonight’s game from the sidelines, as well.

The Sixers are unbowed despite going into every game relatively shorthanded. In addition to Carter-Williams, Nerlens Noel is out indefinitely, and Jason Richardson may be done for good, after each had knee surgery. Reserve power forward Arnett Moultrie won’t be seen until at least January due to his ankle injury. Probably not to the team’s detriment in any way, Kwame Brown remains out with a persistent hamstring issue.

Right now, every one of the team’s ten remaining players are getting action, even Brandon “The BYU Code Breaker” Davies, Darius Morris, Hollis Thompson, and Daniel Orton. Having played into overtime twice already, the starters are being pushed to playing 35-to-40 minutes a night, and as long as they’re playing with a chance to win, nobody seems to mind.

Evan Turner, offensive star! Yeah, you read that right. We’re so accustomed to young players coming into the league with busted jumpers that leave the very same way, that it’s eye-opening when the occasional player works hard enough to transform himself into a reliable threat. He still lacks three-point range (16.7 3FG%), yet he is nailing two-pointers from ten feet out at a respectable 47.5% clip, up from 40.9% last season. Turner has averaged 20+ points in each of the last five Sixer games, and is the first Sixer to go 18+ in seven consecutive games since A.I. (the one that just retired) ruled the roost.

Spencer Hawes is one of several 76er players not trying to get the memo. The nephew to former Hawk Steve Hawes has opposing bigs crying uncle, rejuvenating his career to the tune of 16 points and 10.6 rebounds per game this season, while shooting 52.3 FG%, all career highs by a mile. In overtime versus Houston, he managed a crucial putback tip dunk over the shoulder of Dwight Howard, largely because D12 kept forgetting Hawes could play. Hawes isn’t staying out by the perimeter and shying away from the offensive glass anymore.

Murder… he Wroten! Carter-Williams isn’t the only Sixer who was magnificent in his NBA starter debut. In the upending of the Rockets, Tony Wroten (18 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists) filled in for MCW and became the first player to mess around and record a triple double in his first NBA start, since… maybe ever? Elias Sports Bureau began tracking the NBA in 1970-71 and they can’t find another instance (the Big O, maybe?). Despite Jeremy Lin’s 34 points, Wroten and Anderson ran Houston’s backcourt ragged, and they’ll try to do the same against Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver tonight.

Former Yellow Jacket Thaddeus Young is still trying to get the hang of things in Brett Brown’s breakneck offense. While he has had a pair of 29-point games, he’s shooting below 50% for the first time in four seasons, and rebounds, steals, and blocks are down thus far, while turnovers are up. Perhaps playing more small forward, Young has gone back to taking occasional three-pointers after having abandoned that shot in the past three years.

Young will seem like a momentary relief for Paul Millsap, after having to try and clamp down on Carmelo Anthony on Wednesday night. Before he has to deal with Melo again tomorrow night at MSG, he should be able to use his considerable girth advantage to wear down Young in the paint. Largely due to unsteady minutes, Millsap’s usage dropped precipitously in the past two games versus New York and Charlotte, totaling a combined 15 points and 11 rebounds on 5-for-16 shooting, after averaging 24 PPG and 10.7 PPG (58.7 FG%) in the prior 3 Hawk contests.

To get back above a double-double average for the season, Teague (9.9 APG, 8 assists vs. NYK) should be looking for Millsap early and often, along with a cutting Al Horford. Al is finding his way to the rim with decent regularity, ranking second only to Andre Drummond among Eastern Conference players with 12 dunks on the season. The Hawks' Big 3 need to build an advantage at the line, as the Sixers do not draw a lot of fouls themselves (16.2 fouls drawn, last in NBA).

Milk cartons all around Atlanta have Dennis Schröder’s face on them, asking that if you’ve seen the rookie’s offensive spark to please contact Philips Arena security. His minutes continue to get constricted as he has been erratically throwing shots and passes around trying to see what sticks. After committing four sloppy turnovers in less than nine minutes against the Knicks, until Schröder can steady himself, look to see if Shelvin Mack gets the majority of reserve minutes behind Teague.

Eighteen months ago, during the Sixers’ fortunate run to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semis, their starting center was not Hawes, who played power forward, but one Mr. Elton Brand. The 34-year old has been deployed sparingly by Budenholzer thus far for defensive purposes, with just one appearance in the last 4 games. It will be interesting to see if he’ll get into the mix against one of his former teams and also provide a change-of-pace in Saturday’s road game at MSG.

Another Sixer on that magical carpet-ride through Chicago and (almost) Boston back in May 2012? Lou Williams, who will be available to play after ten months of healing that awful ACL injury. What kind of a game-changer he’ll be over the course of the season for the Hawks offense will be fun to discover. For tonight, don’t expect more than a cameo appearance or two, as he just started full-contact drills with the team this week.

Go Hawks!

~lw3

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Edited by lethalweapon3
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LamarHampton
LamarHampton

So who wants to dump Teague and hand the keys over to Schröder?33 / 10 ain't too shabby if you ask me!

Jody23
Jody23

Dennis' struggles shouldn't be surprising. He's a 20 yr old trying to learn the NBA game at the toughest position. The kid is very talented, but right now the game is moving at 100 mph for him. He'

yungsta
yungsta

What most impressive to me about teague is the number of FT attempts. He has had double digit FT attempts in back to back games. This year he has he has already has 3 of the 9 games with double digit

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As always great stuff lethal! I'm lucky I will get to see the game on LP and for those that want to watch and don't mind malware I'm sure someone will provide other means of watching the game. I'm looking forward to not seeing MCW and getting to see Wroten since so many here wanted us to draft him a couple years back.

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Wow!!!!

Gustavo starting - Milsap off the bench!!!

http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/atlanta-hawks/2013/nov/15/Ayón-starting-lineup-millsap-out/

I am pissed this game is not on TV!!! Why is that HawkFanatic?Posted Image

Interesting about Ayón. I wonder what that's about? Maybe just trying something new out?

I am not endorsing this but you could watch it here:

http://firstrowus1.eu/watch/221511/1/watch-atlanta-hawks-vs-philadelphia-76ers.html

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Love it Lethal. Great stuff. I'm also watching on LP Dolf. Lets do this! Looking forward to watching our Mexican and possibly uncle Lou. LETS GO HAWKSSSSS!!!!Ps I think ur not gonna like Wroten Dolf. The guy can't shoot, and when I mean he can't shoot, I really mean he can't shoot. If I was defending him I'd beg him to take an outside shot and hope he makes the first one. Then continue to sag off and watch him go 1-10 from outside lol

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