Official Game Thread: 76ers at Hawks -- IST Game #2

[lethalweapon3]

“So Happy, Together…”

 

Fertitta? Psh, he a broke boy!

Who makes their bank off selling seafood? In Texas?

And now my boy Daryl Morey has screwed up my cash-cow market, in China?

And then he’s gonna leave me and Russ behind?

Man, get me outta H-Town.

That Alibaba guy will keep me in China’s good graces.

NYC? Bright lights! BIG City!

And me, with KD AND Kyrie? Superteam!

…

Man, this Tsai guy’s pockets ain’t THAT deep.

Kyrie’s actin’ a stone fool.

And who thought Steve Nash could coach us?

They’re not gonna pay me what I deserve when my time comes due.

You know who could? That Harris guy down in Philly.

He’s got, like, a team in every sport!

Plus my boy Daryl runs the show there now!

They’re gonna love me replacing Benny.

Me and Joel? Superteam!

…

Man, this the best White Party ever.

Sure, I’ll take a pay cut, if it helps us win a chip!

I’ll even put up with another year of Coach Doc!

Can’t wait to sign that long-term deal I deserve.

…

Man, that Daryl Morey’s a big ol’ liar.

And Harris’ money’s spread too thin to worry about me.

You know who’d go ALL-IN for me?

The Clippers.

Wealthiest owner in all of sports!

That Ballmer dude will pay for anybody with a name.

And if nothing else, I’m a name!

Do your little shell-game magic, Pinocchio Morey.

L.A.! Bright lights! BIG City! Superteam!

 

Forget about the IST. The Philadelphia 76ers just won the In-Season Season. No more Ben. No more Doc. No more Process talk. No more Hardache!

Morey, the Sixers team prez, is the most celebrated Daryl in Philly since Hall teamed up with Oates at Temple. While whiny Paul George and his trio of increasingly washed NBA75ers struggle to figure out how to even outscore the Grizzlies at home, the 76ers (8-3) feel alleviated from all the intraorganizational drama from the past, oh, decade.

With Tyrese in Maxey-mum overdrive (career-highs of 27.6 PPG, 52.2 2FG%, 94.5 FT%, 5.1 RPG, 6.7 APG, 0.9 BPG), and ring-bearing coach Nick Nurse calling the shots, they’re sitting just a game behind the Celtics atop the NBA East. Shoot, even Tobias Harris is tolerable these days! Yes, Tobias, they’re happy!

All that matters, going forward, is keeping the one Process player that panned out, reigning MVP Joel Embiid (questionable, sore hip), content and upright.

These 76ers are as happy-go-lucky as they come. And they’re in the perfect position for the Atlanta Hawks to trip them up tonight (7:30 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, NBC Sports Philly).

It would be ideal, for Atlanta, if the Sixers weren’t on a two-game losing streak, still fresh off of eight consecutive victories, including a 117-107 loss to Al Horford’s shorthanded Celts at home on Wednesday. But that other loss, the second of two home games versus Indiana, was an IST game.

Essentially every hoops pundit drew the Sixers into the IST quarterfinals, in ink, as the projected winner of East Group A. Now, they have a ‘1’ in the loss column, while the Hawks (6-5) do not. A 2-2 record will not be enough to earn a wild card, and Trae Young’s Hawks can be the team responsible, once more, for derailing Philly’s plans.

The potential of having two undefeated IST teams going at it next Tuesday makes this game essential for the Hawks. After that contest, Lloyd Pierce’s Pacers, having already beaten Cleveland and Philly, wrap up Group Play next Friday by hosting basement-dwelling Detroit. That makes the Hawks the one team in the way of Indiana locking down the Group, and the team most capable of ensuring Philadelphia turns its attention back onto the regular season. Which, it bears repeating, they’ve already won.

Embiid (31.9 PPG, 30.8 3FG%; career-high 5.8 APG), if he plays today, and Maxey (20 points each vs. BOS) will get back to their usual share of buckets, as Boston’s more rugged defense forced the Sixers (all five starters scoring 15+ vs. BOS, 1^st time in a game since April 2022) to spread the wealth a little more than they’ve grown accustomed. The challenge for the Hawks is to make sure the Sixers’ supporting cast members don’t have career outings.

That means suppressing the outputs of the re-acquired Robert Covington, De’Anthony Melton and Jaden Springer (+20 plus/minus, 4-for-5 FGs and 2 steals in 20 minutes vs. BOS), while boxing out and securing the rebounds off the (well-defended, without fouling) shots Embiid and Maxey miss. In Wednesday’s 116-114 loss, Atlanta helped the Knicks maintain their top ranking in the rebounding department (NBA-high 35.2 O-Reb% and 77.0 D-Reb%), and the Sixers (5^th in Total Reb%) wouldn’t mind catching up.

It also means keeping the turnovers down, spurred on by Covington, Melton and Patrick Beverley, that can lead to easy transition baskets. Not having Kelly Oubre (Probably wasn’t planking on a moving car. Probably.) and Nicolas Batum (out, personal reasons) making scouting for this game a little easier.

The Sixers already have done enough to make even their liberty-bellicose, boo-bird fanbase weather through a three-game skid with zero complaints. The Hawks? Well, there’s no need to mess around and find out, is there?

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[kg01]

Yah, we get to see the great Tyrese Maxey in action.

 Man, Acie Law woulda looked good with 10 eyes focused on stopping the league mvp!

Stop hatin', Bawb.  Maxey is a good player.  I'm sure having a teammate getting double and triple teamed all night has no impact on his numbers exploding now that he has more minutes. 

[lethalweapon3]

^Mailing this OP in while I still have working Internet... woke up to a big ol' diesel train derailment in my backyard this morning. Fun! At least my nappy head made it on the local news.

Quin was an assistant under Doug Collins for the LouWIll-Elton Brand Sixers of 2010-11, while Brittni Donaldson worked under Nick Nurse's staff in Toronto from 2019-21.

The Sixers last ran out of here back in April with a 136-131 win in OT despite resting all five of their starters (plus sixth-man Melton). They don't have Jalen McDaniels, Shake Milton or Georges Niang to kick us around anymore, but Springer put up a career-high 19 points fresh off his G-League call-up, including a putback with seconds to spare in regulation. Trae rang up a career-high 20 assists but also had nine TOs and his clutch Bogi-style airball set the overtime period into effect.

~lw3

[AHF]

13 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Yah, we get to see the great Tyrese Maxey in action.

 Man, Acie Law woulda looked good with 10 eyes focused on stopping the league mvp!

Stop hatin', Bawb.  Maxey is a good player.  I'm sure having a teammate getting double and triple teamed all night has no impact on his numbers exploding now that he has more minutes. 

No doubt it helps.  But just recognize that you just called Embiid the league MVP in a non-ironic way.

Plus, even with the attention that Embiid draws Maxey has been pretty incredible.  27.6 ppg, 48.6% FG%, 42.9% 3pt%, 5.1 rebounds, 6.7 assists, 1.5 turnovers.  Kudos to him.  

Hopefully DJ can shut him down on the way to a big Hawks win.  (I cheer for UK grads in the NBA but not when they play the Hawks.)

[kg01]

11 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

^Mailing this OP in while I still have working Internet... woke up to a big ol' diesel train derailment in my backyard this morning. Fun! At least my nappy head made it on the local news....

How you gon gloss over this?  Did you sabotage it a la Mr. Glass from that M. Night movie?

10 minutes ago, AHF said:

No doubt it helps.  But just recognize that you just called Embiid the league MVP in a non-ironic way....

Heh, sometimes you gotta rob Peter to pay Paul, so to speak. 

[lethalweapon3]

Back to semi-normal around Chez Lethal. The usual mid-day dog walkers are milling about, and the faint scent of Eau de @Diesel is somewhat of an improvement around these parts.

New Blue Sun, won't you come?

~lw3

[Dnice]

The bar logo even turned blue.

[HawksNWaffles]

let's do this  

 

 

[JeffS17]

13 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Back to semi-normal around Chez Lethal. The usual mid-day dog walkers are milling about, and the faint scent of Eau de @Diesel is somewhat of an improvement around these parts.

New Blue Sun, won't you come?

~lw3

Not as hideous as some of them (trying to be positive)

[Dean Walker]

Just watching for Jj’s continued development at this point!

hes the Franchise imo!

[Spud2nique]

4 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Tobias Harris

He’s been on the block longer than JC love the Boban commercials tho  

 

4 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

wasn’t planking on a moving car.

That takes talent..

 

Thanks lw3 as always. Hawks by 8 on 2K. Game winning block went to JJ as he swatted Embiid in the last minute in a tight game.

 

Vegas has Hawks -1.5

Go Hawks!!!
 

[Spud2nique]

42 minutes ago, HawksNWaffles said:

let's do this  

 

 

One of those Cam’s looks like my mailman @HawksNWaffles stop playin bro Well my mailman and Garrett Temple a bit  

[benhillboy]

Nick Nurse better cool it on injury-prone, heavy workload Embiid’s minutes; he has a capable, hustling, sneaky passing BU in Paul Reed (OO please don’t get worked tonight). His net rating is only 2 points worse than Embiid’s but only has 13 minutes available to him a night.  I suspect he’ll be around 18 if Embiid is gimpy, but he certainly shouldn’t be counted on to contribute much as a starter if Embiid doesn’t go (c’mon Clint). 

Edited November 17, 2023 by benhillboy

[JeffS17]

I feel good about the game tonight.  I think we're going to surprise some people, particularly Philly fans that penciled this one in as a win.

[kg01]

1 hour ago, benhillboy said:

Nick Nurse better cool it on injury-prone, heavy workload Embiid’s minutes; he has a capable, hustling, sneaky passing BU in Paul Reed (OO please don’t get worked tonight). His net rating is only 2 points worse than Embiid’s but only has 13 minutes available to him a night.  I suspect he’ll be around 18 if Embiid is gimpy, but he certainly shouldn’t be counted on to contribute much as a starter if Embiid doesn’t go (c’mon Clint). 

Wait on it.  He'll last a while longer before the wear 'n tear shows up.

[Atlantaholic]

4 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Back to semi-normal around Chez Lethal. The usual mid-day dog walkers are milling about, and the faint scent of Eau de @Diesel is somewhat of an improvement around these parts.

New Blue Sun, won't you come?

~lw3

After having seen the other in-season tourno floors, gotta say the Hawks may be the least visually offensive.

[SalvorMallow]

I'm at the game in section 119 today! I hope Trae goes off on cryin Embiid!! 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]