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Hawks fall to 76ers in Preseason Finale 120-106

Hawks turn their attention to the season opener against Charlotte on Wednesday

Jackson Caudell

Hawks fall to 76ers in Preseason Finale 120-106
Hawks fall to 76ers in Preseason Finale 120-106 /
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Atlanta traveled to Philadelphia for their final preseason contest and the Hawks opted to go with a starting lineup of Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, Saddiq Bey, De'Andre Hunter, and Clint Capela. The 76ers, who were without James Harden, went with De'Anthony Melton, Tyrese Maxey, Tobias Harris, PJ Tucker, and Joel Embiid. It was the first preseason action of the year for Embiid, the reigning NBA MVP. 

It was a back-and-forth game all night until the 4th quarter when head coach Quin Snyder pulled his main guys and emptied the bench. 

Atlanta went 3-2 in the preseason and now will get ready for the Hornets on Wednesday night. 

Here is the complete recap from tonight's game in Philly. 

1st Quarter

It was back and forth the first few minutes for the Hawks and 76ers, with Bey leading the way for the Hawks in the early going with seven points. It was a rough start for the three-point shooting tonight, with Murray, Young, and Hunter combining to miss their first four attempts. 

About halfway through the first quarter, Atlanta made their first substitutions of the game with Jalen Johnson, Onyeka Okongwu, A.J. Griffin, and Bogdan Bogdanovic being the first substitutes in the game to play alongside Murray. Johnson made his presence felt immediately, hitting a three-point shot and then putting back a missed three-point attempt from Young and getting himself five quick points. 

He did not stop there though. It was a great first quarter for Johnson and he finished with seven points, tied with Bey for most on the team through the first quarter. He was 3-4 from the floor with an assist in the 1st. The Hawks shot okay from the floor at 37.5% and had a really rough start from three-point range, starting 2-9. 

Surprisingly enough, Melton was the 76ers leading scorer, with seven in the first quarter. Philly shot 37.5 from the field and 33.3% from three in the first quarter. The Hawks outrebounded the 76ers in the first. 

2nd Quarter

The Hawks had a great start to the second quarter. 

With Young, Johnson, Bogdanovic, Griffin, and Okongwu on the court, Atlanta would quickly race to its biggest lead up to that point. Bogdanovic hit two quick threes and the 76ers let the Hawks steal some free possessions with sloppy turnovers.

With 10:11 left in the first half, Atlanta led by 10, but they would extend it to 16. 

With under seven minutes left in the first half, Bey, Murray, and Hunter checked back in with the Hawks leading by 12. Springer hit a three for Philly and the lead was back under 10. 

No matter how the 76ers punched back, Atlanta would not let the lead get too small and they continuously worked to get it back to 12-14 points. 

At the half, Atlanta would lead Philadelphia 61-49 and Young led all scorers with 15 on 4-12 shooting and 6-8 from the free throw line. Bey was the only other Hawk in double figures with 10. Murray had a rough first half with three points on 1-7 shooting and 0-4 from three-point range. Hunter had four points and six rebounds and shot 2-3. 

For the bench, the only players Atlanta brought in in the first half were Griffin, Johnson, Okongwu, and Bogdanovic. Johnson had nine points and three rebounds on 4-6 shooting, and Okongwu and Bogie had six points apiece. 

Philly on the other brought seven guys off of their bench, none of them super effective in the first half. Melton led all Philly scorers with 12 points. 

Atlanta finished the first half shooting 44.7% from the field and 31.6% from three-point range. 

3rd Quarter

Atlanta turned a 12-point halftime lead into a 17-point lead in the first 57 seconds of the second half. Hunter hit a pair of free throws and Murray finally connected on a three to get the lead to 66-49. It looked like the Hawks were going to cruise the rest of the game, but the 76ers had a big run in them and won the rest of the quarter. 

Philly went on a quick 8-0 run to cut the lead to 66-57 and then the 76ers cut the lead to 69-68. It was a 19-3 overall run to cut the lead to one and the biggest reason for that was Melton, who hit four three-pointers and got himself up to 26 points on 10-15 shooting. 

The Hawks went with the same rotation in this quarter as they did in the first half and it might have shown what they plan to do in the regular season. Griffin, Okongwu, Bogie, and Johnson were the first substitutes in this game and I think that will likely be the rotation to start the season at least. 

After the big 76ers run, it was back and forth for the rest of the quarter. Embiid started getting to the free throw line and got to 17 points and he was a big reason that Johnson, unfortunately, fouled out in 17 minutes. 

The highlight of the quarter from the Hawks end came at the buzzer when Okongwu hit a three-pointer to extend the lead to four. 

4th Quarter

Okongwu hit another three-pointer to start the quarter to get the lead to five following an Embiid jumper after a pair of Embiid free throws to cut it to three, both teams went through stretches where they could not score until none other than Melton hit yet another three-pointer to tie the game. 

Griffin hit a two-point shot and the Kelly Oubre Jr dunked the ball to tie it back. 

It was at that point that the Hawks emptied the bench and brought in Kobe Buffkin, Bruno Fernando, Trent Forrest, and Wesley Matthews. It was clear that Snyder played his starters and main bench players as much as he wanted to in this game and the Hawks were ready for Charlotte on Wednesday night. 

In 27 minutes, Young had 19 points and 10 assists on 5-16 shooting and 2-7 from three. Murray had 12 points, four assists, and three rebounds, Bey had 13 points, Okongwu had 14 points and seven rebounds, and Johnson finished with nine points and four rebounds, and an assist. It was a quiet night for Johnson after the first half, but it was a great preseason for Johnson. 

Atlanta now turns its attention to Wednesday night in Charlotte against the Hornets in the season opener. 

Be sure to tune into AllHawks.com for the latest coverage from tonight's preseason finale.

Follow Jackson on Twitter: @jacksoncaudell

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Jackson Caudell
JACKSON CAUDELL

Jackson Caudell has been covering Georgia Tech Athletics For On SI since March 2022 and the Atlanta Hawks for On SI since October 2023. Jackson is also the co-host of the Bleav in Georgia Tech podcast and he loves to bring thoughtful analysis and comprehensive coverage to everything that he does. Find him on X @jacksoncaudell

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