Official Game Thread: Hawks at 76ers

[lethalweapon3]

“Good thinking outside the box, Hunt! We really do have to scare these shooters out of the corners. But I checked with the officials and, sadly, Sheisty masks are no longer allowed in this town.”

 

One can always count on the NBA to create some strange Hollywood bedfellows. Atlanta native and AUC legend Spike Lee became THE Knicks superfan. Raised up from the ATL into stratospheric superstardom (and a completed residency not far from the Stratosphere), Usher invested into co-ownership with the Cavaliers, and he didn’t even bail out after LeBron first did.

Meanwhile, the official Spirit of the Atlanta Hawks (a title has been, um, vacated for a while now) is brought to you by Philadelphia’s Own, Kevin Hart. No, it’s not a joke, although my current profile pic over there on the left kinda is.

The Philly-based comedian, the one who would first request a stepladder before ever considering slapping his Headliner buddy Chris Rock, was all up in State Farm Arena’s business at the NBA season’s start. Laid back, with his mind on his newfound money, and vice versa.

Hart could be found hanging out near courtside with Harry the Mascot while sipping on his Gran Coramino tequila. The bar inside the arena’s Delta Sky360 Club is now named after the brand, its name prominently displayed on the back of a Hawks jersey as Hart cheesed it up for promos in Atlanta’s locker room. Followers of this liquor brand might win his courtside seats in a sweepstakes his venture plans to hold down on The Farm.

You see, the way this Koonin and The Gang partnership was set up was, it “marries two of my biggest passions: sports and tequila,” said the Ride Along star. “Last year, I made State Farm Arena a stop on my comedy tour, but this year, I wanted to find a way to connect with the Hawks and venue long term. To build anticipation for this basketball season, my tequila brand signed a sponsorship deal that bonds the Hawks and Gran Coramino together. I am excited for Hawks fans to become fans of my tequila once they have the chance to try it out!”

Thankfully, It’s Just The Hawks, so nobody in the larger NBA soundscape really noticed enough to pretend to care. Hardly any Sixer fans reacted like a Home Alone actress in a holiday cashback ad: “Kevin!”

Further, I can’t blame Hart for pursuing this latest Crown Royal-style bag from a not-Philly sporting club. Much like Usher’s people probably couldn’t get a word in edgewise with The Notorious A$G back in the day, the Sixers still seem to suffer from frosty business relations.

I am, of course, once again, talking about the poor waifs over at Wells Fargo (and not about The Hardache; that’s so last month). You’ll see the bank name displayed on the court as the Hawks and 76ers tip off tonight (7 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, NBC Sports Philly). But that’s solely because the home team would rather not drag out its longstanding grudge with the arena sponsor, and their army of lawyers, in courts with hardwood gavels.

Philly’s gameday media notes, and all official PR issued by the team, still refer to the team’s home venue derisively as, “The Center.” This is going on eight years after the Sixers first tried to scrub the arena sponsor’s imagery off the court, or at best make it faintly visible.

The NHL Flyers’ and arena’s owners relinquished ownership of the Sixers to Josh Harris way back in 2011. The multi-pro-team owner’s people couldn’t hammer out an agreement to make the stagecoach-branded conglomerate their official banking partner. So they inked a 2015 “official” partnership with a local family-owned bank, instead, and have hardly found reason to mention either of them in the years since.

The team’s media guide greets PDF viewers with, “Welcome. The Philadelphia 76ers would like to welcome all members of the media to the 2023-24 season, our 28th season in The Center and our 60th in the City of Brotherly Love.” The guide mentions “Wells Fargo Arena,” home to the unaffiliated G-League Iowa Wolves, about as often as it is forced to reference “Wells Fargo Center.” As an essential element of Philadelphian culture, the moment they decide to hold a grudge, you are left with no choice but to pry it from their cold, dead hands. How brotherly.

Harris’ Sixers, in the process of politicking for a move to Kelly Oubre’s Center City and away from their longtime home off South Broad, are also in a PR pickleball with Comcast Spectacor, the arena owners. A former Ticketmaster and MSG CEO, aligned with Harris’ push for the new venue, squabbled over trying to book The Eagles (the group that Don Henley QBs) at The Center, and threatens to never work with the guys running the old building again. “Take my name out your [redacted] mouth!”, the Sixers basically shouted while clapping back at Comcast.

Sixer fans look past these passive-aggressive disputes among billionaires as easily as they do the basketball team that has gone 5-6 after an impressive 8-1 start. Sure, they fell to Boston last week, for the second-straight time. But they lost only by seven points, and Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey were each out with illnesses! Embiid (NBA-high 33.1 PPG, on track to lead the league for a third-straight year) was out sick when they lost in New Orleans, too. Yes, they needed almost all 50 points from Joel just to fend off the Wizards in D.C. on Wednesday, but that WAS a 50-piece. MVP!

Coach Nick Nurse’s offense currently stands at 16^th in the league in 2FG%, 9^th in 3FG%, 5^th in O-Reb%, 20^th in assist%, 9^th-lowest TO%. Not much of that is terribly impressive. What is, though, is the Sixers ranking second in offensive efficiency (120.1 O-Rating), regardless. They distinguish themselves from the Hawks’ offense (5^th in O-Rating, at 118.2) because the field goal attempts they generate are low on degrees-of-difficulty, and high on the capabilities of those taking shots.

It also helps that they know who can draw trips to the free throw line, and how confidently those players shoot from there. Philadelphia ranks 2^nd in FTAs, and 1^st in FT%, by making sure that the lion’s share of those visits are allocated to Embiid (87.6 FT%, up from his MVP season career-high of 85.5%), Maxey (90.3 FT%), and Tobias Harris (88.6 FT%).

Joel’s 3.8 TOs/game threatens to surpass his rookie-season high, yet his 6.6 APG would blow away his career-best averages of 4.2. That’s a credit to Nurse, and the array of Embiid’s current teammates in proper position to score off his forays toward the rim (PHI 3^rd in Roll-Man frequency and Roll-Man PPG), rather than choking away what remains of the shot clock (sorry, James).

Like most teams, the 76ers also stand apart from Atlanta on defense, but the disparity isn’t as clear as the defensive ratings suggest, as demonstrated by the 126 points Philly allowed the languishing Wizards. Only the Hawks (16.1) allow more PPG off opponents cutting to the hoop than the Sixers (13.6). But while cutters are hitting baskets at a whopping 74.4 percent clip against the Hawks, Philly’s 66.1 percent is closer to league average.

At least Kevin Hart made moves in the offseason to, as he put it, build anticipation for the Hawks’ basketball season. Landry Fields and Swiss Family Ressler stashed the back of the roster with future coaching assistants and unutilized rookies, then left it to Quin Snyder to figure a way to make the young returnees useful in his rotations.

So far, so good with the injured Jalen Johnson, and Saddiq Bey, the plug-in starter who nearly saved the Hawks’ bacon late in Wednesday’s 114-113 home loss to Brooklyn. Yet AJ Griffin (DNP-M.I.A. last 3 games) and Onyeka Okongwu, once young Model Ts of efficiency, are on the cusp of devolving into Edsels under Snyder’s watch, and it's unclear when the injured 2023 Draft class will be able to leave the garage. When there aren’t enough contributors emerging as a threat on offense, or as a reliable defensive stopper, the outcomes of winnable Hawks games are too often left to The Little Engine That Could, Trae Young (questionable for tonight, illness) and the mercy of referee whistles.

Fortunately for Hawks fans, Coach Quin feigned proper outrage at the (even more proper) no-call that concluded the Nets game. Visibly and audibly showing he has Trae’s back virtually guarantees that, this season, Young will be on the court when the Nuggets come to town next week.

Even if Trae is a no-go tonight, Atlanta (9-11) needs quality bench production beyond Bogi Bogdanovic to keep up with Philadelphia (4.5 bench-player Net Rating, 2^nd in NBA). Leaning too heavily on Dejounte Murray (team-worst minus-18, 5-for-16 FGs, one rebound, 3 assists, 3 TOs in ATL’s 126-116 loss vs. PHI on Nov. 17; one dime short on his 2^nd ATL triple-double but 5-for-16 FGs vs. BRK) and the starting unit will prove fruitless for the Hawks, especially if the Mat(t)hewses are among the top reserve options.

As the NBA calendar turns, beginning next week, to permit a higher volume of players to churn through trade hoppers, my one suggestion to Fields, and Atlanta's player-personnel brass, is to enjoy a sip or two of Philly Kev’s Gran Coramino during the boardroom meetings. Something has to pass for The Spirit of the Hawks these days, so that'll do.

But please, Landry, Think Responsibly.

 

Happy Hanukkah. Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Philly PD never even tried to bring poor HitchBOT's killer to justice, so I'm inclined to take the aloof Kelly Oubre at his word when he insists his Schwinn got sideswiped about a mile down the road in Center City. He returned against the Wizards and eventually led the way in bench scoring (12 points) after a rough opening half.

That clears the Sixers' side of the Boo-Boo Report, as their two-way players are on G-League duty. Trae's illness (still listed as Questionable) remains the only new smudge on the Hawks' side.

Despite dropping three of their past four away games, Atlanta's six road wins remains tied with a bunch of teams for second-most in the NBA East (MIA is up to 7-6 after throttling the Raps in Toronto on Wednesday). FWIW, Philly is 6-4 away from home, but like most of these teams, they are break-even or better as hosts (ATL 3-6).

Anything more than 99 points tonight moves the Hawks into a tie with both the Sixers and Knicks of 1966-67 for the 7th-longest triple-digit team scoring streak in league history. Where the 100+ points-allowed streak ranks all-time, obviously, is unreported.

The Hawks somehow lead the all-time H2H versus the Syracuse Nats/76ers franchise, 179-174, and the Sixers will need more than their current four-game winning streak against Atlanta in order to pull even.

 

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

"A-choo!"

~tra3

[Spud2nique]

20 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Kevin Hart.

sorry I just pictured him jumping on Lebron or something in the finals if Sixers met the Lakers..  

 

22 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

At least Kevin Hart made moves in the offseason to, as he put it, build anticipation for the Hawks’ basketball season. Landry Fields and Swiss Family Ressler stashed the back of the roster with future coaching assistants and unutilized rookies, then left it to Quin Snyder to figure a way to make the young returnees useful in his rotations.

Preach ..

 

23 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Yet AJ Griffin (DNP-M.I.A. last 3 games) and Onyeka Okongwu,

They need burn if we doing anything later on in the season get them some minutes.

 

23 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

But please, Landry, Think Responsibly.

And drink .. oh I see what you did there. Messin wit the lyrical genius who I think I is? #lethalonestepahead #manythanks

It won’t be easy by any means.. in Philly, I don’t consider Hart, when I think of Philly I still think where lw3 to me to go for cheesesteaks authentic style so it’s his really..

 

Go Hawks!!!!!
 

Vegas has Philly -9.5
 

2k result Sixers by 1. Let’s prove me wrong  

[JayBirdHawk]

Can't wait to see Quin's lineup choices. I'm guessing Bogi starts.

DJ, Bogi, Hunt, Bey, CC.

Is this the AJ breakout game? Or expect to see more Mat(t)hews', Forrest (I expect to see him minutes at PG), Mills etc. 

[Dnice]

^The latter I'm sure, but Griff still may hit the floor.

[terrell]

1 hour ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Can't wait to see Quin's lineup choices. I'm guessing Bogi starts.

DJ, Bogi, Hunt, Bey, CC.

Is this the AJ breakout game? Or expect to see more Mat(t)hews', Forrest (I expect to see him minutes at PG), Mills etc. 

It would do everyone a world of good if AJ could get in the game and play well.  

But if he gets min and stinks it up...................... He may never see the floor again this season.. smh

Edited December 8, 2023 by terrell

[shakes]

3 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

"A-choo!"

~tra3

No Trae, No JJ, No F-ing way I'm watching the game.  OKC is on an hour later.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

The Law of Mid states that even without Trae, the Hawks will tonight.

We have not fallen 3 games below .500 since Jan 11th of last season, when we lost to Milwaukee.

Is Philly more powerful than the LAW OF MID?

 

NO!

 

Take the friggin' Hawks STRAIGHT UP!

[Atlantaholic]

41 minutes ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

The Law of Mid states that even without Trae, the Hawks will tonight.

We have not fallen 3 games below .500 since Jan 11th of last season, when we lost to Milwaukee.

Is Philly more powerful than the LAW OF MID?

 

NO!

 

Take the friggin' Hawks STRAIGHT UP!

No JJ, no Trae and now a Northcyde jinx against the even if we were healthy much better than us Sixers? Gonna have to skip this one with too much shit going on. Hope you guys get to enjoy a miracle win. 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

18 minutes ago, Atlantaholic said:

No JJ, no Trae and now a Northcyde jinx against the even if we were healthy much better than us Sixers? Gonna have to skip this one with too much shit going on. Hope you guys get to enjoy a miracle win. 

One man's jinx, is another man's treasure.

Wasn't her name Jinx?

 

Recipe for victory:

 

DJ - 28+ point game

Bogi - 4+ threes

Embiid - less than 50% FG

Sixers - 112 or less points

Hawks bench scrub - 10+ points

Maxey & Harris - less than 37 points

Clint & OO - 20+ rebounds

12 - 20+ combined pts + rebs

[SalvorMallow]

8 minutes ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

One man's jinx, is another man's treasure.

Wasn't her name Jinx?

 

Recipe for victory:

 

DJ - 28+ point game

Bogi - 4+ threes

Embiid - less than 50% FG

Sixers - 112 or less points

Hawks bench scrub - 10+ points

Maxey & Harris - less than 37 points

Clint & OO - 20+ rebounds

12 - 20+ combined pts + rebs

Did you just share your 8x parlay prop bet?

[terrell]

lol Capela is so bad offensively..

[Carmine]

No Trae? A.J.G minutes plausible?

[TheBigETrain]

Free Patty Mills

[TheNorthCydeRises]

28 minutes ago, SalvorMallow said:

Did you just share your 8x parlay prop bet?

 

LOL . . . nah.  Only 3 of them.

• DJ - over 26.5 points
• Bogi - over 3.5 threes
• Sixers - under 112.5 points

 

Batum and Covington would be perfect wings on our team.

[terrell]

Dre

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Stop being soft OO.

Gotta play more physical.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

3 minutes ago, terrell said:

Dre

 

It's sad.

This is the very type of game we need him, and 12 does nothing but disappoint.

Let's see if he picks it up as the game progresses.

[Jody23]

The last foul call on OO was bad.  And this continued nailing of AJ to the bench is now past annoying.  Player development was supposed to be a big priority for the new coach.  He's not doing his job in that respect.