Good, bad, ugly: ‘Everyone really stepped up’ to defeat 76ers on Sunday

It was the defensive glass, though, that really made a difference.

“We got some big stops, were able to secure some defensive rebounds, even, you know, guys getting on the floor for a loose ball as a jump ball, but that was, that was crucial,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said.

“Whether they (the Sixers) have 21 offensive rebounds, some of those were just tap-backs and things. They’re just bigger than we are down there throughout the game. So, I thought we did a good job of gang rebounding. We figured out there was a stretch down the third quarter, just getting by. Thought we got better at guarding the ball at the perimeter as well.”

The good

The Hawks looked like the deep team they were projected to be in the offseason.

On a night where top scorers in Johnson and Alexander-Walker had inefficient shooting nights, the Hawks had enough scoring power from several others.

Guard Dyson Daniels scored a season-high 27 points, finding ways to make the rim open. He attacked the rim, including when he scored all eight points of an 8-0 run by the Hawks. Daniels scored four consecutive layups, blowing by the Sixers’ bigs down low.

Hawks wing Vit Krejci continued his hot-shooting streak off the bench, while second-year forward Zaccharie Risacher made a pair of 3-point shots that staved off a Sixers’ push before he exited the game.

They got plenty of help from center Onyeka Okongwu, whose early work on the boards and 3-point shooting earned him a double-double one minute into the third quarter.

“We got a really good team, whether Jalen’s shots aren’t falling, Nickeil’s shots aren’t falling,” Daniels said. “Like they’re still out there helping us, and Vit, he was huge for us off the bench again. Asa (Newell) came in and played some great minutes. Everyone really stepped up and did their role today.”

The bad

The Hawks have not done a great job of limiting opponents’ scoring off their turnovers. On Sunday, they gave up 14 points off 17 turnovers.

While the Hawks did turn over the ball, they did a solid enough job getting back in transition. Despite 80% of the Sixers’ steals leading to transition plays, the Hawks allowed the Sixers to score only 0.9 points per 100 possessions, according to Cleaning the Glass.

“I just think our ability just to stay calm,” Johnson said. “Obviously, we’re not as perfect as we want to be right now. We’re not as sharp as we want to be, but some little things down the stretch, I think just our ability to remain calm, I think, was huge for us.”

The ugly

While Daniels had success at the rim, the Hawks as a team struggled on their two-point attempts. The Hawks shot only 39.4% from two-point range, while making 37.9% of their attempts in the paint.

This season, the Hawks have been a top-10 team when it comes to scoring in the paint, averaging 52.7 paint points per game. They’ve had success because they’ve been able to get out in transition, ranking in the top five for fast-break points, as well as in points off turnovers.

But the Hawks didn’t force enough turnovers, and they didn’t exploit enough missed shots by the 76ers.