Severely undermanned Sixers win wild game; Nets locked in as Round 1 opponent originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
ATLANTA — The Sixers will face the Nets in the first round of the playoffs.
It’s safe to assume the team that matches up with Brooklyn in Game 1 of that series won’t resemble the one that played Friday night at State Farm Arena.
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The Heat’s loss Friday to the Wizards locked the Nets in as the No. 6 seed. (Brooklyn also later beat the Magic.) Just like in 2019, the Nets will be underdogs against the Sixers in a No. 3 vs. No. 6 encounter. The Sixers won that testy series four years ago in five games.
As far as the on-court action in Atlanta, the severely undermanned Sixers pulled off a wild overtime win, taking a 136-131 victory over the Hawks to improve to 53-28. It's their most wins in a season since the 2000-01 campaign.
Each of the top six members of the Sixers’ rotation did not play. Joel Embiid (right calf injury recovery), James Harden (left Achilles injury recovery), Tyrese Maxey (neck stiffness), P.J. Tucker (right calf tightness), Tobias Harris (left hip injury recovery) and De’Anthony Melton (right calf tightness) were all out.
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Trae Young led Atlanta with 27 points and 20 assists. The Sixers' highest scorers were Jalen McDaniels (24 points), Georges Niang (24), Danuel House Jr. (22), and Jaden Springer (19).
The Sixers will wrap their regular season up with a road game Sunday afternoon … against the Nets. Here are observations on their OT victory Friday:
Very encouraging first Springer start
Springer and two-way players Mac McClung and Louis King went from winning the G League title Thursday night to being active in the NBA on Friday.
“They flew in this morning separately, which is nuts, because we couldn’t get one plane that had enough seats,” Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said pregame with a laugh. “It was just one of those days. And so I think Jaden got in at 10:30 (a.m.) and Louis and Mac got in around 12:30 (p.m.) I texted them last night … and I said, ‘You’re playing tomorrow, so watch the champagne consumption.’"
Springer, who won’t turn 21 years old until September, started his first NBA game alongside Shake Milton, McDaniels, Niang and Paul Reed. Before Friday, he’d played just 59 total NBA minutes.
The 2021 first-round pick began the night guarding a two-time All-Star in Young. He clearly has a good feel for screen navigation and a knack for being solid on the ball, whether that looks like tight pressure or simply not ceding any clear downhill driving angles. Clint Capela is a formidable screener, though, and Young had little issue finding open teammates all over the court on his way to six first-quarter assists.
Offensively, Springer scored an early transition layup and sunk a catch-and-shoot three-pointer. He appeared significantly more comfortable off the ball, even asking Furkan Korkmaz to handle point guard duties at one point. Springer has some natural talent as a passer, but making rapid decisions in the pick-and-roll against NBA defenses is a serious challenge. After getting himself into a decent position a little below the foul line, Springer seemed to second-guess himself and lofted a pass to Reed that Capela easily intercepted.
While scoring likely won’t be Springer’s NBA calling card, he showed Friday that he possesses tools beyond only catch-and-shoot threes and open-floor drives. Springer hit a floater, made a pull-up jumper around the nail, and stepped up in the clutch (more on that below). For a first start — on the second night of a back-to-back right after sealing a G League championship — this was a tremendous performance.
McDaniels’ cutting shines
Common sense said the Hawks would dominate the game.
However, the Sixers were more than merely competitive early. Two McDaniels layups assisted by Dewayne Dedmon gave them a 30-22 lead. Dedmon dished out the first following a sharp backdoor cut by the 25-year-old wing. He lobbed the second up to McDaniels, who broke free after a well-timed McClung back screen. McDaniels posted 11 first-quarter points on 4-for-4 shooting. Rivers on Thursday called him “probably our best cutter,” and he backed up that praise nicely in Atlanta. The Sixers would love to see that trait in the playoffs when McDaniels plays next to their double team-drawing stars.
Confidently putting up threes and converting a few timely ones would be great, too. Over his first 20 games with the Sixers, McDaniels didn’t have any games with multiple three-point makes. He’s now done that in three straight contests.
While shooting luck played a role in the Sixers’ strong start — they opened 4 for 6 from three-point range and Atlanta began 1 for 8 — the team received a variety of useful contributions and played well in difficult circumstances. Still, the Sixers needed almost everything to break their way to win, and it hurt that Milton misfired on 9 of his 10 first-half field goal attempts. Seven of those misses came in the paint; Milton was frustrated on a couple of occasions not to draw a foul call, and he struggled with touch and timing around the rim.
Though McDaniels couldn’t sustain his scoring pace, his performance certainly illustrated why Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey thinks he has “starter potential.”
Scrappy Sixers stun Hawks
Montrezl Harrell was the Sixers' No. 3 center, but he subbed in early in the second quarter after Reed picked up his third foul.
In just 14 minutes, Harrell had 11 points and 10 rebounds. His relentless, high-energy style helped the Sixers make the Hawks sweat plenty in the fourth quarter, and Atlanta hurt itself often with unforced errors. After Harrell took a charge on Dejounte Murray, Niang drilled a three to cut the Hawks' lead to 98-96.
Eventually, Atlanta got a few pivotal threes to fall. John Collins made a key jumper and Young's first long-range make of the evening extended the Hawks' edge to seven points.
The Sixers didn't go away, though. Springer stole the ball from Young and set House up for a fast-break slam, trimming the Sixers' deficit to 112-110. Incredibly, following two Capela misses at the foul line, Springer made a strong driving bucket to knot the score at 117-all. He also soared high to slam in a game-tying put-back dunk and defended Young very well on the Hawks' final possession of regulation. Extra basketball was ultimately required.
The Sixers' offensive execution was stellar in overtime and Niang took great pleasure in letting Hawks fans know he'd just sunk a massive three.
Springer split two free throws with 38.8 seconds remaining in overtime. He then committed his sixth foul on Young, but the Sixers were fortunate that the Hawks star went 1 for 2 at the line.
Niang then sealed the deal on what was surely the Sixers' most improbable win this year with another three.
Just about every Sixer who made the trip to Atlanta was grinning at the final buzzer.
