Official Game Thread: 76ers at Hawks

[lethalweapon3]

Hawks fan late last night: “That’s It, Man. Season Over, Man! Season Over!”

 

Hawks fans! Please give a warm welcome to The Worst Professional Sports Team in Philadelphia!

That’s kind of mean, I acknowledge. These days, it’s like calling out the dumbest bloke at the Mensa society gathering. Illadelphians were used to William Penn’s statue atop City Hall being adorned with celebratory gear whenever a sportsball club was amidst a championship run. That began back when such success was rare, an exceptional sight in a town long inured to losing, and its players to booing. Lately, from one cheerful game to the next, Billy Penn doesn’t quite know what to wear to the parties.

After enjoying a night out on the town here in Atlanta, while the Hawks were busy spinning their wheels in mud against the Jazz, Doc Rivers’ 76ers enter State Farm Arena (7:30 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, NBC Sports Philadelphia, NBATV elsewhere) with a chance to get back to .500 ball.

A game under .500, 11 games into an 82-game schedule? That’s not too bad, although if the fourth-quarter flop in last night’s 125-119 loss dropped the Hawks (7-4) to 5-6, the earth beneath Nate McMillan’s feet would be a bit more scorched. Coach Doc is enduring a month-long injury absence by James Harden (foot sprain) and the in-and-out status of Joel Embiid (non-You Know What illness, missed four games). So, under the circumstances, things are not all that bad.

Still, it’s not the NL East also-ran Phillies surging into the World Series good (thanks, Bravos.) It isn’t The Union finally breaking through in the playoffs to reach the MLS Cup Final (remember playoffs, Atlanta United?).

It isn’t the Iggles making Mercury Morris sweat, undefeated halfway through the NFL season (‘sup, Falcons?). Even the Flyers fans are over their skates right now, the hockey club holding serve in the NHL’s Atlantic Division with a 7-3-2 record following a disastrous 2021-22 season.

Philly Sports Fever is ridiculously infectious. Watch in horror as a reporter, completely across the country, asks midfielder Kellyn Acosta at last week’s MLS Cup press conference, “How exciting is it to be in Philly right now?”

“Has it sunk in?” Kellyn blinks at the questioner puzzled. As he should be. Acosta plays for LAFC. Los Angeles Football Club, the hosts for American soccer’s Super Bowl. If you didn’t know this before now, that’s fine. If you weren’t aware before showing up with a tape recorder for the presser, the placard with LAFC’s logo next to Acosta’s name on the table serves as a helpful hint.

Acosta seeks clarification: “Just playing AGAINST a Philadelphia team, you’re saying?” It still hadn’t sunk in for the reporter, who enjoys hearing himself elaborate. “The excitement right now in Philadelphia! The Phillies are in the World Series, the Eagles are undefeated and You Guys are playing for the championship as well. How exciting is that for you?”

LAFC fans had to be in WTAF mode. Dodgers fans wish they didn’t have to chuckle. Kellyn, for his part, was curt but classy in his response: “I don’t play for Philly… hey, but it’s exciting for them, I guess!”

It was an exciting time for LAFC, the five-year-old side who proceeded to win their first MLS Cup. It occurred mere hours before former Hank Aaron mentee Dusty Baker nabbed his first World Series ring as a manager, with the Astros’ clean win over the Phillies.

Now, you wouldn’t dare ask a sports fan in Los Angeles, or Houston, how thrilling times are around town right now. Alternatively, in Bridesmaid City, the Phils and "The U" and the Eagles are in the limelight, while NBA fans and players alike are firmly in the backdrop.

Embiid was at Citizens Bank Park to root, root, root for the home team, as the Phils pushed the Bravos out the playoff paint to reach the NLCS, and he understands where the Sixers now place in the local sports pyramid.

“Our season started tonight,” Joel joked after trudging through Monday’s 100-88 win over the fraying Phoenix Suns, still beleaguered by the illness that waylaid him but using his 16-for-16 FTs to pace the team to victory with 33 points. “The Phillies are done, I enjoyed watching them. So, our season started tonight. All the other (Sixer) games don’t count.”

While Embiid is cool with his team’s default lot in Philly sports life, from the perspective of 76ers owner Josh Harris, and GM busybody Daryl Morey, it wasn’t supposed to be this way. Joel embraced his moniker as “The Process,” back when the old regime stank and tanked to high heaven. As the small-p process finally borne fruit with Embiid and a sentient Ben Simmons, visions of NBA Finals danced in every cheesesteak chewer’s heads.

Lofty expectations remain heightened, particularly after Morey was able to turn Probably Can Play But Won’t Simmons into Wants to Play But Probably Can’t Harden. Unfortunately, the last several postseasons, Embiid and company have found themselves trumped by one superstar after another, from Kawhi, to Trae Young, to Jimmy Buckets (tell us about it). Weary of running into playoff walls while not playing at their optimal best, Rivers plays musical chairs with a hot seat, while The Process risks becoming known around town as The Plateau.

Over a half-decade in, it was supposed to be Phillies and Eagles players looking on approvingly in South Philly, as Embiid and the Sixers don conveniently-timed commemorative tees and caps from Fanatics.com. Not the other way around. Heck, don’t let the Flyers get something started.

At least they were briefly, in 2020-21, the class of the hyped-up Atlantic Division, the only banner-worthy accomplishment of the prior twenty years. Now they’ve been lapped by the despised Celtics, who can change coaches and not skip a beat. KD is stuck trying to keep the Nets from imploding, the Raptors are set back without Siakam, and the Knicks are the Knicks. Superstar outages aside, how is Philly not already ensconced in second-place in this situation?

Consider the rave reviews Morey received, after the 51-win Sixers’ season ended in the conference semis against Miami, when he reeled in the ‘real’ reason Miami was so hard to beat. 37-year-old P.J. Tucker, everyone! You need depth, you say? Put on Montrezl Harrell and Danuel House, for size. Relying on a healthier, spryer Harden, have Tobias Harris swear off eating so much Goldfish, and you’ve got yourself one banger of an offseason, no?

This home-and-home series with the Hawks, continuing Saturday at what is still The (Don’t Call Us Wells Fargo) Center, may solve the team’s short-term needs, if they continue to do what Atlanta won’t and take their defensive duties seriously and consistently. Nobody asks me, and it’s a good thing because nobody reads this far anyway (just kidding!), but I believe Philadelphia’s long-term solution is balling out in plain sight.

Former league MVP Harden and perennial MVP finalist Embiid are more ball-stoppers than show-stoppers at this stage of their careers. Rivers needs to recognize that the current incarnation of this team needs to be, “Tyrese Maxey and the Philadelphia 76ers.” Harden, when he gets back on the court, brings the ball up off it, Embiid unclogs the lane, and Harden gets the ball to Maxey (23.6 PPG, 4.0 APG) and lets the young man cook.

They tried it the old way, letting Harden dominate the rock, and wound up 0-3 for their trouble, finally getting off the schneid versus visiting Indiana. Maxey has led in scoring in five of Philly’s past seven games, and the times they proved unsuccessful was only because Harris and Tucker proved to be insufficient substitutes with Embiid out of commission.

Tyrese pumped in 75 points during their two-day stay in Toronto, a 44-point game in a win without Embiid making him join Hal Greer and Allen Iverson as the only Sixers to enjoy a 40-piece meal before the age of 23. The minute he pulls a Adbuwali Muse on Rivers and seizes control of the ship, Maxey’s Sixers will be set to sail farther. “Look at me!”

The Hawks have a chance to extend the Sixers’ “preseason,” and add to their malaise. But as Trae Young struggles to get good shots off early, and as Dejounte Murray seeks to plug holes in every dam, Atlanta needs far more production than they’ve received from their starting third-wheel.

John Collins enjoyed a birthday cake this past September with a photo of his iconic “Get Over Here!” playoff dunk over Embiid made out of buttercream frosting. Regrettably, after a strong couple of games to start the regular season, it has been a minute since we’ve seen JTB (John The Baptist) look like anything more than a JAG (Just A Guy) out on the court (last 7 games: 9.7 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 1.4 APG, 1.7 FTAs/game 50.0 FG%). Over the next few days, Embiid is hopeful Collins receives his just desserts.

It's as if Lloyd “I have not run one play for him” Pierce was still here calling the offensive shots. JC either gets in quick foul trouble, blows a defensive assignment, or gets bottled up on a post play, and takes his mind out of games prematurely.

Too Late Nate often tries to let the guys on the floor just play through their lapses, a feature that imperiled the Hawks every time Utah sped away yesterday. McMillan needs to set Collins aside for a play or two, reset his focus, and use a few designed plays and defensive assignments to literally get his power forward back in the game.

You can’t teach assertiveness, but when Collins isn’t beating his man for the defensive rebound, he can certainly beat him down the floor and make his finishing abilities crystal-clear to his pass-happy guards. After watching Lauri Markkanen score an unfettered season-high 32 points last night, Collins must stay committed to Harris and the floor-spreading Sixer bigs, and he cannot get caught overhelping and/or out of position.

Plenty of Philly transplants will fertilize The Farm tonight with their presence, although you might get confused, judging from all the non-Sixer jerseys they’ll wear, just what kind of sport you’re watching.

By speeding up the games on the slow-paced Sixers, keeping Embiid off the free throw line and Clint Capela out of foul trouble, and minimizing Maxey and the three-point forward threats, Atlanta can regain its confidence that it belongs among the Eastern Conference’s upper crust. As a bonus, they could also fluster a Philly phanbase into zoning out even more on the franchise that was, for a moment, the apple of their eye. “Say, when does Wings lacrosse get going?”

 

Thank You, Veterans! Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

Oh dear!

 

 

[kg01]

Really, @lethalweapon3?  Hit us with the .... "Season over, man.  Season over ..."

Truth hurts.  So who'll be first to fire up the lotto/tank thread?  Early money's on @benhillboy but the smart money's on @terrell..... 

 

[Gray Mule]

@lethalweapon3   I read all of your posts except the one that was in color.  That one glared and ran together for me, making reading impossible.

You always give us some interesting facts and keep our attention.  Always eager for your posts!!

[Spud2nique]

23 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

16-for-16 FTs

Whoa .. that a big man record without misses.. relax Nique.. I mean James.. 

 

23 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Eagles

@lethalweapon3 this your team? I know it’s @MaceCase. Scary first half dominance. Beating the snot outta my Lions was just the start. 

 

23 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Tobias Harris swear off eating so much Goldfish, and you’ve got yourself one banger of an offseason, no?

I love Boban’s anti Kawhi mitts in those commercials  

23 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

The minute he pulls a Adbuwali Muse on Rivers and seizes control of the ship, Maxey’s Sixers will be set to sail farther. “Look at me!”

if he tied any record held by the Answer aka WE TALKIN BOUT P… then there’s always a chance for it… wait fooooorrr itttt..

23 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

John Collins enjoyed a birthday cake this past September with a photo of his iconic “Get Over Here!” playoff dunk over Embiid made out of buttercream frosting.

Funny you mention that, somebody just told me to get one of those… 

 

23 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Plenty of Philly transplants will fertilize The Farm tonight with their presence, although you might get confused, judging from all the non-Sixer jerseys they’ll wear, just what kind of sport you’re watching.

 

23 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Thank You, Veterans!

Indeed. 🫡 

Great as always lw3! Thank you sir!

NBA TV TONIGHT HAWKS -1 is the current Vegas line.

LOOOOOOVVVVVEEE THAT SOUTHERN PEACH BABY!!!! (NOT IN NICHOLAS CAGE’S VOICE EWWWWWW )

GO HAWKS!!!!!

Edited November 10, 2022 by Spud2nique

[Spud2nique]

5 minutes ago, Gray Mule said:

@lethalweapon3   I read all of your posts except the one that was in color.

I only have a black/white tv here  We don’t have anything fancy in here except me. 

[AHF]

Any Aliens reference is a win for me.  Been wanting to rewatch the first two movies in that series for the last month or so.  Haven't been able to get anyone else on board in my house.  Will just rewatch on my own eventually, but that is for Hawks viewing today.

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

11 games into last season we were 4-7.

We are currently 7-4, let's make it 8-4 tonight!

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

Will Georges Niang be the guy who goes nuts from 3 on us tonight? He was 7-10 in his last game.

He is shooting 50% from 3 (4.9 attempts) for the season.

DJ will have his hands full in containing Maxey and as usual Embiid will be falling and getting all the free throws.

How quickly will Capela get 2 fouls?

[macdaddy]

So far i'm not really digging the peach thing.   Court looks like a sign for a roadside fruit stand.  

[TheNorthCydeRises]

34 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

So far i'm not really digging the peach thing.   Court looks like a sign for a roadside fruit stand.  

Yeah it's meh to me.  Looks like a court I would've created on an old NBA Live game.

[HawkingAwesome]

 

[lethalweapon3]

A crack in the ol' glacier?

~lw3

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[HawkingAwesome]

 

ngl that peach looks like an orange.

[Atlantaholic]

5 hours ago, AHF said:

Any Aliens reference is a win for me.  Been wanting to rewatch the first two movies in that series for the last month or so.  Haven't been able to get anyone else on board in my house.  Will just rewatch on my own eventually, but that is for Hawks viewing today.

Oh man I know that pain. My wife HATES sci-fi, and it's probably my favorite genre. I actually was able to get her to watch Alien in 4k and she actually kinda liked it, but rewatching it is probably out of the question. Was gonna put on Aliens a few days ago and when I opened the box set blu-ray the disc was missing *heartbreak.

Aliens was one of my favorite movies growing up. Watched it on TV for the first time when I was around 8 years old and got me obsessed. Collected a bunch of the really gnarly action figures that came out in the early 90s . (is it just me or do current day figures not hold a candle to the stuff that came out back in the 80s/90s).