Joel Embiid's Big Night Gives the 76ers the Win Over the Atlanta Hawks

Atlanta drops to 6-6 after tonight's loss

In their second game of the NBA In-Season Tournament, Atlanta faced Philadelphia tonight in what was a big game in the Tournament. The Hawks were 1-0 in group play coming into tonight's game and the 76ers were 1-1. With a win, Atlanta could make it really hard on Philadelphia going forward. 

The big question surrounding this game was the status of last year's regular  MVP Joel Embiid. Embiid was questionable going into the game but was ruled in and he started alongside Tyrese Maxey, De'Anthony Melton, Tobias Harris, and Robert Covington. 

There were no changes to the Hawks starting five. It was Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, De'Andre Hunter, Jalen Johnson, and Clint Capela.

There were plenty of highlights in the first quarter of this game. 

While he might have been questionable coming into this game, Embiid made his presence felt early, scoring nine early points and getting the 76ers out to a 15-12 lead at the first timeout with 7:01 to go in the quarter. 

Embiid might have been scoring, but he did not stand a chance when Jalen Johnson came barreling down the paint: 

JALEN TYRESE JOHNSON pic.twitter.com/LRpcfhkrk4

— Bally Sports: Hawks (@HawksOnBally) November 18, 2023

Trae Young has had a tough time shooting the ball to start the year, but he was still good enough to crossover De'Anthony Melton and make him lose his ankles early in this game: 

I see a body.@TheTraeYoung | @ATLHawks pic.twitter.com/K0cwRd28FX

— Bally Sports: Hawks (@HawksOnBally) November 18, 2023

It was not the best quarter from Atlanta though and that is not a surprise as the Hawks have been a slow-starting team this year. 

Things toward the end of the quarter were not in the Hawks's favor. Onyeka Okongwu was called for basket interference on his own dunk and Quin Snyder tried a challenge that was unsuccessful. Some poor sequences on offense after that failed challenge led to the 76ers leading after the first quarter 30-24. 

Atlanta shot 45% in the opening quarter and 40% from three. Johnson led the way with six points and three rebounds. 

The 76ers were led by Embiid in the opening quarter and he finished with 11 points, three rebounds, and four assists. Perhaps the most surprising thing in the first quarter was that Maxey had zero points. Atlanta did a good job defensively of bottling him up and Murray led that effort. 

The 76ers shot 52.6% from the field and 50% from three in the first quarter. 

Atlanta was fantastic to start the second quarter though. 

Okongwu hit a rare three and then Bogi hit another to tie the game. A 12-0 run got Atlanta in front by six. 

After the Hawks went up, it looked like they had seized all of the momentum. Then Maxey finally got going and hit a pair of free throws and then a floater to get his first four points of the night. 

It was a strong first half for Bogi and Bey, who combined for 14 first half points and led a strong effort on the bench. 

The Hawks would win the quarter, but the 76ers were still up one at the half. Atlanta shot 44.4% from the field and 31.3% from three. Jalen Johnson was fantastic in the first half with 10 points and seven rebounds and while he still could not get his shot to fall, Young nearly had a double-double with nine points and eight assists. 

Philadelphia shot 42.2% from the field and 43.8% from three. Embiid had 15 points, three rebounds, and four assists while Maxey had 12 and Harris had 11. 

Jalen Johnson was great in the first half for the Hawks / Jordan Godfree-USA TODAY Sports

The third quarter was off to an interesting start and saw De'Andre Hunter ejected after a poor call. He was called for a foul on Embiid and Hunter disagreed with the call and picked up a technical in the process. While Embiid was going to shoot the foul shots, Hunter was then called for his second and was then ejected. It was surprising to see for such a calm player but he had every right to be upset. 

Bey would come in to replace Hunter and Atlanta would find a groove on offense and in particular, Capela and Johnson had really good third quarters. With 6:44 left in the quarter, Atlanta led 71-68, but that is when the 76ers would make their run and their three best players led the charge. 

The 76ers would go on a 16-5 run to take an 84-76 lead and Embidd was up to 25 points and the Hawks were having a hard time scoring the ball. 

One thing was notable in this game and it was that the Hawks were much better with Young on the floor running the offense and were struggling to do much with him off of it. Murray was struggling at this point in the game and after a strong second quarter, Bogdanovic was not able to hit many shots. 

That was until they needed him to hit one. 

Down eight points, Atlanta got out in transition and Bogi got the ball, did a quick spin-around, and somehow drained a three to cut the lead to five. 

After the lead got back to eight, Young hit a logo three near the end of the quarter, but a foul on Okongwu with 0.4 remaining in the quarter let Philly get back to a seven-point lead. 

It was a poor third quarter for the Hawks on defense, giving up 37 points to the 76ers. Embiid had 13 points in the quarter and Maxey had seven. Danuel House Jr had a big quarter with seven points. 

Young (9), Johnson (6), and Capela (7) were all really good in the quarter for the Hawks. 

Joel Embiid had 13 points in the third quarter against Atlanta / Jordan Godfree-USA TODAY Sports

Embiid went to the bench to start the quarter and Atlanta needed to make a run. 

It was back and forth though through the first three minutes and Bey split a pair of free throws to cut the lead to seven before House hit a bucket to make it nine points and then a three from Harris made it 12. 

Patrick Beverley was hit with a technical (while on the bench mind you) after the Harris three, but Bogi missed the free throw and it just felt like it was not going to be the Hawks's night. 

Down by 14 with 7:30 to go, the Hawks needed a run badly. Bey hit a three to cut it to 11 and both Young and Capela got ready to check back in after a timeout from the 76ers. 

Murray hit a nice layup to cut it to 10, but Jaden Springer hit a tough shot over Jalen Johnson to move the lead back to 12. Embiid scored his 30th point on the other end and Philadelphia went up by 14 with 4:31 left in the game. 

Atlanta could not make it a close game and lost 126-116. 

Atlanta shot 44.9% from the field and 36.4% from three. Philadelphia shot 48.9% from the field and 43.3% from three. 

Young finished with 22 points and 13 assists, Johnson had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Capela had 17 points and 11 rebounds. 

For the 76ers, Embiid had 32 points, eight rebounds and seven assists and Harris had 29 points and 10 rebounds. 

It was not a good night for Murray, who had his worst game of the season in my opinion, and finished a -18 when on the floor. He was not the only one though. Bogdanovic (-14) also struggled through the night after having a great game on Wednesday against the Knicks. 

Young and Johnson were the only players to finish with a positive point differential in the game for the Hawks. 

Atlanta is back in action on Tuesday with another in-season tournament game. They will face the Indiana Pacers at home. 

Analyst Talks About Hawks Most Surprising Issue Through 11 Games

Follow Jackson on X here: @jackoncaudell

Follow Hawks coverage on Facebook here: All Hawks