76ers vs. Hawks: Player Observations After Sixers Fall Short to Atlanta

Coming off of a rough week, the Philadelphia 76ers avoided a four-game losing streak on Monday when they faced the Boston Celtics on the road for the second time this year. Although the victory didn't come easy, Sixers center Joel Embiid led his team to victory and helped his guys get back on the right track.

After getting two days off, the Sixers went back home and hosted the Atlanta Hawks at the Wells Fargo Center for the second time on Thursday night. In the previous two games the Sixers faced the Hawks, Atlanta was at full strength. And since the Sixers were clearly seeking revenge after last year's playoff loss, the 76ers found ways to take down the Hawks twice already this season.

On Thursday, the circumstances were quite different, though. As Atlanta has been dealing with a team-wide COVID outbreak, mixed with a handful of physical injuries on their roster, the Sixers didn't see the same Hawks team they saw in their previous two outings against them.

Trae Young, Clint Capela, Danilo Gallinari, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Lou Williams, Kevin Huerter, De'Andre Hunter, Solomon Hill, and Sharife Cooper all missed Thursday's game for the Atlanta Hawks.

While the Sixers missed a few reserves in Georges Niang, Danny Green, Shake Milton, and Andre Drummond, they should've been able to take care of business on their home court against a depleted Atlanta team.

But that's not how the game went. After getting outscored 32-18 in the first quarter, the Sixers found themselves in a hole early. While they clapped back in the second quarter and evened the score before going into halftime, the Sixers didn't come out with a significant punch in the third quarter as they started trailing again.

The 76ers have made it a theme this year to wait until late in the second half to start taking advantage of undermanned opponents, but the Hawks made them pay for it on Thursday. While the Sixers had one final shot to tie the game up in the final seconds of the matchup, Joel Embiid's shot wouldn't fall.

And just like that, the Sixers picked up loss No. 16 on the year as they fell short 98-96 before heading into their holiday break.

76ers vs. Hawks Player Observations

How did the Sixers individually perform against the Hawks? 

Matisse Thybulle

The young guard flashed brilliance on the defensive side of the ball as always as he swatted two shots and picked up a steal. Unlike Monday night, Thybulle managed to stay out of foul trouble despite remaining aggressive on defense.

Offensively, Thybulle looked to get more involved. Typically, he averages around four shots per game. On Thursday, Thybulle put up eight shots. 

Although he drained 50-percent of his field goals, Thybulle went 0-3 from deep. While he's showing more improvement on the offensive end lately, Thybulle has to be more consistent from beyond the arc. 

Tobias Harris

Although Tobias Harris was second in scoring for the Sixers on offense, the veteran forward struggled from the field. Putting up 14 shots, Harris drained five of his attempts. From the free-throw line, he was a perfect 6-6. 

All year long, Harris has struggled with his shooting from three. Thursday's story was no different. As he took six shots from deep, Harris didn't drain a single shot. Coming off of a strong performance on Monday, Harris' 16-point outing against Atlanta wasn't as helpful for the Sixers. 

Joel Embiid

The Sixers will always rely on Joel Embiid as he is the team's clear-cut best player. Lately, he's had to do just about everything to will his team to victory. In Boston, Embiid took matters into his own hands and was able to grind out a victory for his team.

But on Thursday, we didn't see the same guy. Perhaps, fatigue has something to do with that. Checking in for 35 minutes, Embiid chucked up 17 shots. Unfortunately, only 35-percent of his attempts were successful.

While his double-double stat line of 23 points and ten rebounds look good from a personal standpoint, the Sixers needed Embiid to be superman on Thursday night. Unfortunately for the Sixers, he could only do so much, and nobody else could step up and help him out. 

Furkan Korkmaz

Doc Rivers made a surprising move and started Furkan Korkmaz on Thursday. The Turkish veteran got the nod as Tyrese Maxey came off the bench. Although Doc Rivers attempted to keep Maxey on a minutes restriction as he was returning from an injury, Rivers issued Korkmaz 22 minutes in his first game back after his battle with the flu.  

Korkmaz's shooting struggles continued against Atlanta. He drained just two of his six shots from the field. Not only did Korkmaz miss all three of his attempted threes, but he was less aggressive from beyond the arc as he passed up a handful of open threes. 

Seth Curry

The veteran guard was efficient once again. As Curry drained five of his nine shots, with two of them coming from deep, he scored 12 points. While Curry remained efficient on Thursday night, he wasn't producing a high volume of scoring. 

Typically, when Curry's shooting more, the Sixers tend to find more success. However, he had one of his quiet nights as he put up less than ten shots in nearly 40 minutes of action. The Sixers have to find ways to get Curry more shots. 

Tyrese Maxey

As he's dealt with a quad contusion lately, Tyrese Maxey missed the last two games for the Sixers. On Thursday, the young guard made his return to the floor, but he wasn't in the starting lineup, which came off as a surprise at first.

Doc Rivers intended to play Maxey for roughly 15 minutes on Thursday, but he ended up checking in for 33 minutes. To no surprise, he was one of Philly's most reliable players on the offensive end as he knocked down seven of his 16 shots for 17 points.

Coming off of a game where the Sixers' bench scored just one point, Maxey was a huge spark on Thursday night. The second-year veteran hinted he wasn't one-hundred perfect health-wise after the game, but Maxey still had a solid outing despite his limitations.

Isaiah Joe

Right now, Isaiah Joe's best weapon is his three-point shot. If that's not falling, he isn't of much use to the 76ers. Unfortunately, the second-year sharpshooter was not so sharp on Thursday as he missed all four of his shots from the field in 12 minutes. Joe will continue to get minutes as long as the team is shorthanded, but that won't last when the team gets healthy if he continues to come up short.

Charles Bassey

The rookie center hasn't played much this year, but he's shown some solid flashes when he does get on the floor. The story was no different on Thursday. In 12 minutes off the bench, Bassey went 3-3 from the field and 2-2 from the free-throw line, scoring eight points. He also blocked a shot and picked up a steal. 

Tyler Johnson

Tyler Johnson checked in for 11 minutes on day one of his ten-day deal. Despite only being with the Sixers for one day, Johnson fearlessly chucked up a few shots from deep. He hit on just one of his three attempts, but he looked like he belonged on the floor despite not playing since last season. In the end, he finished the night with three points and as a plus-13. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.