Woeful Sixers are torched in Atlanta
ATLANTA - The Atlanta Hawks 127, 76ers 106.
ATLANTA - The Atlanta Hawks 127, 76ers 106.
The first 26 games were probably enough evidence. But the Sixers made it more obvious on a night when they surrendered the most points of the season: They're on pace to finish with the worst record in NBA history.
Despite solid performances from several players, the Sixers suffered another lopsided loss. This one was delivered by the Hawks at Philips Arena.
"We had 24 turnovers," coach Brett Brown said. "We shot 52 percent from the floor. We shot 46 percent from three, [and] we outrebounded them [32-25]. We had 106 points on the road.
"But as I said at the start, we threw it away 24 times."
Other than that, it was a solid offensive night.
Isaiah Canaan made 6 of 8 three-pointers en route to finishing with a game-high 24 points. Jahlil Okafor added 19 points and seven rebounds, snapping his streak of consecutive 20-plus scoring games at four. Reserves Tony Wroten (12 points), Richaun Holmes (12), and Robert Covington (10) were the Sixers' other double-figure scorers. All of this didn't matter as the Sixers still fell to 1-26, extending their losing streak to eight games.
The 1972-73 Sixers finished 9-73 to post the league worst regular-season record. But they were 3-24 through 27 games. That's two games ahead of this season's squad.
Atlanta (15-12) was led by Paul Millsap's 21 points in just 24 minutes, 36 seconds on 7-for-8 shooting. Jeff Teague added 18 points.
On paper, the Hawks were supposed to provide a solid opportunity for the Sixers to get their first road win of the season.
Atlanta had lost three straight and 11 of 18 after starting the season 7-1. One season removed from a berth in the Eastern Conference finals, the Hawks dropped to the 10th-best team in the conference.
The Sixers were without Nerlens Noel (left eye corneal abrasion) for the second straight game.
His defensive presence at the rim was surely missed, as the Hawks turned this game into a layup drill.
Atlanta's 127 points and 61.5 shooting percentage was its highest of the season.
The Hawks scored 58 points in the paint. Thirty-six of those points came on 18-for-23 shooting in the first half.
"That's all that halftime was about: Too easy, too many; too easy, too many," Brown said.
The Hawks jumped out to an 11-2 lead after Millsap's reverse layup with 8 minutes, 30 seconds left in the first quarter. The Sixers had more turnovers (three) than made field goals (one) in six attempts during that stretch.
The Hawks extended their lead to 23 twice in the second quarter. The second came on Thabo Sefolosha's 18-footer to make it a 63-40 game with 2:46 before intermission.
But as has always been the case this season, the Sixers battled back.
They pulled within seven points on Robert Covington's four-point play with 8:12 left in the third. The Sixers small forward was fouled while making a three-pointer. Then he converted the foul shot. But the Hawks responded with a 27-8 run to take a 102-76 lead into the fourth quarter.
"It was too easy," JaKarr Sampson said. "We made the game too easy for them. It wasn't really our offense besides the turnovers. That's what led to a lot of layups."
Extra security
The Sixers had extra security on hand during their three-game road trip at Toronto (Sunday), Chicago (Monday) and here in Atlanta.
One person in the security detail is a retired secret service agent, who is serving as a consultant. The other two are retired FBI agents who work for Sixers owner Josh Harris. They will be with the team through Sunday.
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