By Kevin McCormick, Sports Talk Philly Editor 
The Sixers kicked off a tough road stretch Thursday night with a game against the Hawks. This game featured three All-Stars with Joel Embiid and Trae Young who are starters, and Ben Simmons who was named an All-Star reserve before tip-off.
Playing on the road has been an issue for the season all season and that struggle continued Thursday. The Sixers fell to the Hawks 127-111 and the Sixers are now 9-16 on the road this season.
Trae Young showed everyone why he is an All-Star starter in this game. He had a double-double by the end of the first quarter and finished the night with 39 points and 18 assists (career-high). Young attempted 20 free throws in this game which was a big reason why he went on the scoring barrage he did.
Trae Young just dropped 14 PTS and 10 ASTS in the first quarter 🔥 pic.twitter.com/kPoqQRMwzn
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 31, 2020
Shake Milton was the story for the Sixers in this game. He started for the third straight game and is making the most of his opportunity with Josh Richardson out. Milton posted a career-high in points with 27 and shot an effective 5/9 from three.
Ben Simmons also dominated in this losing effort for the Sixers. He ended the game with 31 points, six rebounds, five assists, and four steals.
Although they both finished with 21 points apiece, Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris had rather quiet nights in this game. This matchup seemed like a game where Embiid would dominate, but he looked like he just couldn’t seem to get himself going.
It was not a good night for the Sixers’ reserves in this one. Raul Neto and Furkan Korkmaz have been two of the better players off the bench this year, but they struggled on Thursday. They finished a combined 0/13 from the floor and 0/6 from three.
This was a bad game to drop as the Sixers wanted to keep the momentum rolling for this next stretch. The team will be back in action on Saturday to face the Boston Celtics.
