The Atlanta Hawks picked up a big win over the Cleveland Cavaliers Friday night at home and moved their record to 12-8. The Hawks have won three of their last four games and are hoping to continue that streak tonight on the road in Philadelphia.
The game is getting ready to start and both team just announced their starting lineups:
Hawks
G- Nickeil Alexander-Walker
G- Dyson Daniels
F- Zaccharie Risacher
F- Jalen Johnson
C- Onyeka Okongwu
76ers
G- Tyrese Maxey
G- VJ Edgecombe
F- Paul George
F- Dominick Barlow
C- Joel Embiid
Looking at the Hawks
In the preview for today’s game, our own Rohan Raman gave a deeper look at the Hawks numbers after the first 20 games of the season:
“The Hawks righted the ship after their disappointing performance against the Wizards and looked rather comfortable against the Cavaliers. They’re 16th in points, 5th in FG%, 9th in 3P%, 20th in FT%, 25th in rebounds (25th in OREB, 22nd in DREB), 1st in assists and 14th in turnovers per game. They’re 16th in offensive rating on the year, so the advanced metrics support the idea that they’ll be able to match up with most teams on that end.
Atlanta’s defense did enough to get the win against Cleveland and held the rest of the Cavs in check, but they still struggled to stop Donovan Mitchell from exploding for 42 points. On a per-game basis, the Hawks rank 15th in points allowed, 13th in FG% allowed, 9th in 3P% allowed, 23rd in rebounds allowed, 7th in steals and 6th in blocks. They’re 13th in defensive rating on the year, which puts them in an above-average tier.
Philadelphia’s offensive success lies in Tyrese Maxey and their strong backcourt, but they have felt the injury absences of Embiid and George. They’re 17th in points, 18th in FG%, 11th in 3P%, 9th in FT%, 17th in rebounds (12th in OREB, 18th in DREB), 18th in assists and 13th in turnovers per game. George has returned to the lineup and seems to be working his way back to his usual form, but he’s still on a minutes restriction and that holds Philadelphia back from unlocking a higher ceiling.
A relatively healthy Embiid is usually enough to keep Philadelphia in a solid tier defensively, but his absence and the lack of elite defensive talent unfortunately means they are a slightly below-average defense despite being the best shot-blocking team in basketball. They’re 18th in points allowed, 16th in FG% allowed, 8th in 3P% allowed, 14th in rebounds allowed, 23rd in steals and 1st in blocks. This should be a relatively soft matchup for the Hawks offense”
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