Game Preview: Philadelphia 76ers
Atlanta earned tough victories in its first two games of the season, but the first real test of the season will come Monday night as the Hawks host the only other unbeaten team in the Eastern Conference. The Philadelphia 76ers are, are armed with size and physicality at every position, and enter the season as one of the very favorites to make – if not outright win – the NBA Finals. Philly may have the best and most versatile defense in the NBA, which is anchored by potential MVP and Defensive Player of the Year candidate Joel Embiid. The 25-year-old has earned second-team All-Defensive honors each of the last two seasons and last season took the rest of his game to a new level.
Embiid has become a legitimate offensive hub for Philadelphia, averaging 27.5 points and 3.7 assists last season. Embiid ran over eight post-ups per game in 2019, on which averaged 1.05 points per possession – the second-highest mark among players who averaged at least four post-ups per game. There just aren’t many bigs in the NBA who have the physical strength to match Embiid, let alone the agility or wits to sustain his spins, fakes, and drives. It hurts even more that the Hawks lost Bruno Fernando to an ankle sprain on Saturday. The rookie would have struggled against Embiid, but could have at least provided physical defense and absorbed fouls off the bench. Embiid demands that an opponent have a large, capable post defender, and the Hawks will have a tough time stopping him.
Alex Len has size and length, but lacks the timing and base strength to combat Embiid down low. Damian Jones is not the answer. Defending the big man will take a collective and continuous effort from everyone involved. The Hawks will send frequent double teams Embiid’s way in attempt to barricade the rim and obstruct his passing lanes from the block. He can be prone to taking ill-advised shots over multiple smaller defenders or settling for midrange jumpers when 3s or layups are available. Facilitating is an area of relative weakness for Embiid, who despite posting impressive assist numbers for a center, also turned the ball over on 13.5 percent of his possessions last season. He has improved his ability to read the floor and take care of the ball every season of his career, but he isn’t nearly the passer Nikola Jokić or Marc Gasol is.
Game Time: Monday, October 28, 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, GA
TV: Fox Sports Southwest, NBC Sports Philadelphia
Streaming: NBA League Pass, Fox Sports Go
It remains unclear whether Embiid, who is dealing with right ankle injury, will play Monday night, but the Sixers still have plenty of talent to throw at the Hawks. Ben Simmons is one of the most gifted passers in the NBA. While functionally a point guard on offense, Simmons is as anomalous as any guard in NBA history. He operates as smoothly and powerfully as anyone in transition, hitting cutters and shooters for easy buckets while defenders brace for assaults on the rim.
Fitting Simmons into the halfcourt game is more complicated. He famously dabbled with a jumpshot in the preseason, but remains a damaging non-shooter who cramps Philadelphia’s spacing. But despite the restrictions he imposes on Philly’s offense, Simmons remains a highly efficient scorer and the 76ers’ offense hummed at over 112 points per 100 possessions last year. The Hawks may send help from Simmons’ man, but he can counter that by cutting and finding space around the rim, where he shoots 69 percent.
The contrasting styles of Embiid and Simmons makes for a difficult attack to stop. The Hawks must make a point to pick up the Sixers in transition, but must also retain focus for the duration of Philly’s methodical possessions. When the offense doesn’t run through Simmons or Embiid, Tobias Harris or Josh Richardson is liable to orchestrate pick-and-rolls or spot-up while (Hawks legend) Al Horford keeps the wheels moving with keen passing and reliable 3-point shooting. Former Hawk Mike Scott offers floor spacing off the bench and rookie Matisse Thybulle has been a defensive revelation early in his career.
Philadelphia is engineered to pose matchup problems for any team, but the Hawks are uniquely challenged in trying to defend them. There’s just no good hiding place for a player like Trae Young on defense, and virtually every Hawk will be physically outmatched on defense. Richardson is the shortest Sixer in the starting lineup, and likely Young’s initial matchup. Against other supersized teams (like the Knicks), that could present matchup advantages on offense, but the 76ers are quick and versatile enough on defense to mitigate the Hawks’ quickness and pace.
It will be worth tracking how often they target Young – either in pick-and-roll or in the post – and Collins on defense and whether Len, Cam Reddish, and De’Andre Hunter can cover for them. Offensively, the Hawks could have a tough time creating the same looks against the Sixers’ length and bulk as they did in their first two games. Young’s floater may become even more crucial Monday night, as Embiid tends to drop back near the rim in pick-and-roll coverage and swallow up would-be layups. Hunter has initiated a decent amount of offense through two games, especially early. How does he fair against greater size and quickness?
Embiid, while dominant on the interior, isn’t a particularly mobile defender on the perimeter, though he’s perfectly capable of springing traps on shooting threats like Young and recovering to the rim. Atlanta will likely try to avoid him at all costs, but they could try to exploit his relative lack of quickness as well.
