Hawks vs 76ers: Three Takeaways From Last Night's Loss to Philadelphia

It was not that long ago that the Atlanta Hawks had won four straight games after an 0-2 start and they looked like they had found some early success. Since then, they have lost four of their last six games and have some things to figure out. I am not here to hit the panic button after just 12 games of an NBA season, but Atlanta still has plenty to work on if they want to avoid being a play-in team again this season.

So what are the key takeaways from last night?

1. Dejounte Murray and Bogdan Bogdanovic had their worst games of the season

Dejounte Murray is off to perhaps the best start to a season in his career. Bogdan Bogdanovic had a big night against the New York Knicks on Tuesday and almost led the Hawks to victory.

Both players did not play well in the loss last night.

Murray had 13 points on 5-16 shooting and was a -18 when he was on the floor. Murray has been great for Atlanta this season with Trae Young struggling to shoot the ball, but last night was not his night.

Bogdanovic has been perhaps the best bench player on the Hawks this season, but he also had a poor night. He was a -14 on the floor and shot 4-12, including 3-8 from three. He is the best three-point shooter on the Hawks and when he struggles like this, it makes it hard for the Hawks to win, especially when one of the the star guards are not playing well like Murray did.

Both players are having great season, but they struggled mightily last night.

2. Hawks had no Answer for Joel Embiid

Look, he is the reigning MVP for a reason and one of the best players in the NBA, but Atlanta could not find anything to slow Joel Embiid down. He finished with 32 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds. Embiid is not known to rack up assists like Nikola Jokic, but he found his open guys and they hit their shots.

Embiid looks like he is going to be challenging for another MVP this season and he put his skill set on full display last night.

3. The defense is just not good enough right now

Nobody expected the Hawks to have a top-10 defense this year, but if they wanted to get a top-six seed and possibly win a playoff round, they were going to have to be above average and so far this season they are failing to meet that threshold.

Atlanta is 24th in points per game allowed, 23rd in field goal, and 23rd in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, they are 22nd in points allowed per 100 possessions and 22nd in effective field goal percentage allowed.

It is still early, but the Hawks have to be better on this end or their season is going to end similarly to the past two.

WATCH: Trae Young Post-Game Press Conference After Loss to 76ers

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