A sloppy first half got Philadelphia off to a rough start, and the Atlanta Hawks would only make the hole deeper as they defeated the 76ers 125-99 at the Wells Fargo Center on Friday night. Less than six minutes into the game, the Sixers had committed an incredible nine turnovers and found themselves in what seemed like a shooting contest between Thaddeus Young and Kyle Korver.
Despite Young’s strong first half, Philadelphia went into the half trailing by twelve, which probably was a fortunate position to be in given how poorly they were playing. Atlanta picked apart Philadelphia with the ball and as a team finished the game with 36 assists, eight of which via point guard Jeff Teague. Only Portland had more assists in a game this season than the Hawks did on Friday as an opponent of the Sixers.
What helped the total was the fact the Hawks were hitting their shots. Atlanta shot over 50% from the field, including 50% from three. Korver extended his streak of 114 consecutive games with a three-pointer less than six minutes into the game.
Former Sixer Elton Brand, along with second-year player Mike Scott, actually led the Hawks in scoring with eight points. Atlanta remarkably had eight scorers reach double figures, including two other former 76ers, Korver and Lou Williams. Young led the 76ers with 29 points, 16 of which came in the first quarter.
After the game, Head Coach Brett Brown called out his team for playing, according to him, their worst game of the season. He was not pleased with the team’s weak effort defensively.
"It was the poorest performance of our season," Brown said. "It's one of the few times I feel like effort wasn't there. As a group, we have no appreciation of the importance of playing defense."
