Five Takeaways from Hawks Win Over 76ers
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Last night the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 104-95. Atlanta capped off their challenging homestand with an impressive 3-1 record. Now they are 8-4 on the season and ranked fourth in the Eastern Conference. Below are our five biggest takeaways from Thursday night's game.
Clint Capela
Clint Capela had his fourth consecutive impressive game. The Hawks center accrued 18 points and 20 rebounds. What's most exciting for Atlanta is that Capela has been excelling against some of the NBA's best big men.
After the game, Hawks coach Nate McMillan said, "This is the Clint that we saw two years ago. This is the Clint that we need out on the floor - rebounding the basketball, defending. He's done a really solid job in the last couple of days defending some of the top players in the league."
Trae Young
Atlanta has gotten off to their best start since the 2016-17 season. With the exception of a few games, they have been doing it without much scoring from Trae Young.
The prodigy point guard is still flashing his passing skills, ranking fourth in the league with 9.2 assists per game. Following last night's game, Young reiterated that he was not worried about his shooting slump (the worst stretch since his rookie season).
Trae Young ranks fourth in the NBA with 9.2 assists per game.
Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Defense
This morning I woke up to a text from my dad, who couldn't believe Atlanta held Philadelphia to 95 points. He is not the only person surprised by the Hawks' new defensive identity.
Last season, Atlanta held opponents to fewer than 100 points in nine games. So far, they have already accomplished that feat four times this season. Even better, they have inched up to the tenth-best defensive rating in the league.
Outside Shooting
On the flip side, Atlanta's outside shooting remains an issue. The front office traded shooting for defense this past summer. But we didn't know the perimeter shooting would be this porous.
Atlanta shot 23.1% from deep last night. The Hawks rank 22nd in the league in three-point percentage, and only three teams make fewer outside shots than them per game.
Bench
Another priority of Atlanta's front office this past offseason was adding depth to the roster. So far, that has not panned out. Outside of Onyeka Okongwu, Atlanta's second unit has been wildly inconsistent this season. Currently, the Hawks rank 20th in bench points this season.
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