Philadelphia 76ers Beat Atlanta Hawks 136-131
Summary
There is good and bad news to report tonight, but we will start with the latter. The short-handed Philadelphia 76ers upset the Atlanta Hawks 136-131 in overtime. The good news is Atlanta clinched the eighth seed tonight.
Philadelphia entered Friday night's road matchup without several key players, notably Joel Embiid, James Harden, and Tyrese Maxey. But the short-handed 76ers overcame a 15-point deficit to surprise the heavily-favored Hawks.
Jalen McDaniels and Georges Niang led the way with 24 points each, while Danuel House Jr. provided 22 points off the bench. Philadelphia hit 11-22 (50%) of their three-point attempts and outrebounded Atlanta 52-38.
Trae Young led Atlanta with 27 points and 20 assists. However, a failed final possession of regulation resulted in a shot-clock violation. It was just one of Atlanta's 20 turnovers (the rise in turnovers has been a disturbing trend over the past few weeks).
Atlanta falls to 41-40, while Philadelphia improves to 53-28. The Hawks have practice tomorrow before their final regular season game against the Boston Celtics on Sunday afternoon. Their Play-In game will be Tuesday night in Miami against the Heat.
Stats
Hawks Leaders
Trae Young - 27 PTS, 20 AST
John Collins - 19 PTS, 8 REB
Dejounte Murray - 19 PTS, 4 AST
76ers Leaders
Jalen McDaniels - 24 PTS, 11 REB
Georges Niang - 24 PTS, 6 REB
Daniel House Jr. - 22 PTS, 3 REB
