The Hawks will be sorry they don’t face the 76ers anymore this season.
Three games. Three blowouts.
The Hawks continued their impressive winning ways against the 76ers with a 124-86 victory at Wells Fargo Center Wednesday night. The Hawks led wire-to-wire in sweeping the season series. The Hawks’ victories have come by an average margin of 27 points.
The Hawks (29-22) won their second straight, both in solid all-around performances, and kept a hold on the third spot in the Eastern Conference. All 13 Hawks scored in the balanced attack. No Hawk played more than 26 minutes.
The 76ers (7-42) dropped their third straight.
Here are the key players and five observations on the game:
Three key players
Tim Hardaway Jr.: The guard continues to contribute as he scored a season-high 13 points and had seven rebounds.
Mike Scott: The forward had 13 points on 6 of 10 shooting.
Thabo Sefolosha: The forward had 12 points, on 5 of 7 shooting, with six rebounds.
Five observations
1. Reading Turnover Market
There is a long-time marketplace in Philadelphia known as the Reading Terminal Market. An extension opened at Wells Fargo Center with turnovers on the menu. The Sixers committed 15 first-half turnovers. The Hawks average an NBA fifth-best 16.6 turnovers per game. For the entire first quarter and for most of the first half, the Sixers had more turnovers than field goals. It wasn’t until a Nik Stauskas 3-pointer with 3:45 left in the second quarter that the Sixers had more field goals (14) than turnovers (13). They ended the half with three more field goals thanks to an 11-4 run. Jahlil Okafor had five first-quarter turnovers. The Sixers finished with 23 turnovers.
2. Early start
The Hawks jumped out to an early lead with a strong first quarter. They led 27-17 after the opening period as they shot 55 percent from the field (11 of 20). The Sixers shot just 35 percent (7 of 20), including 1 of 7 from 3-point range. The Hawks led by as many as 12 points in the first quarter. They would lead by as many as 19 points in the second quarter.
3. Strong bench
The Hawks bench has struggled of late but they were strong against the Sixers. The group combined for 29 of the 58 first-half points. Mike Muscala (10 points), Hardaway Jr. (6), Dennis Schroder (5), Scott (5) and Sefolosha (4) were a combined 10 of 22 from the field. They also added 14 rebounds and six assists through two quarters. The Hawks finished with eight double-digit scorers, five from the bench. The Hawks’ bench accounted for 80 of the 124 points.
4. Moose loose
Muscala has shined in the past two games with Tiago Splitter out with a right hip injury. Muscala finished with a season-high 12 points, on 4 of 5 shooting, in 19 minutes Wednesday. He had six points, four rebounds and two assists in 17 minutes Monday.
5. Plain bad
The Sixers made recent organizational changes and acquired Ish Smith to play point guard. Coach Brett Brown spoke before the game about the focus on the franchise narrowing in the right direction. That may be true. Still, there is much work to be done. The Sixers will keep their crown as the worst team in the NBA.
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