‘This is what we have to be about:’ Depleted Hawks nab tough win in Philly

1. Just before the game, two-way guard Sharife Cooper entered health and safety protocols, bringing the Hawks to seven players sidelined with COVID-19 (including Trae Young, Clint Capela, Danilo Gallinari, Kevin Huerter, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Lou Williams). That left the Hawks with 11 available players, including Jalen Johnson and Skylar Mays called up from the G League and Malcolm Hill, Wes Iwundu and Lance Stephenson on 10-day hardship deals.

They started a lineup of Delon Wright, Mays, Cam Reddish, Onyeka Okongwu and John Collins, with Okongwu replacing Gorgui Dieng from Wednesday’s starting lineup. Considering how decimated the roster is, this was an impressive win against a tough Philly team - on the second night of a back-to-back.

“This is what we have to be about,” Hawks coach Nate McMillan said of the team’s resiliency despite difficult circumstances. “This is a game that we want to build off of. With all the things that have happened here in the last really month of the season, coming to Philly on a back-to-back, a good team that has had our number this year, these guys responded to the challenge of getting up and playing harder and playing together and playing for 48 minutes.”

2. Despite playing short-handed, the Hawks jumped on the Sixers for a 19-point lead, though seven Atlanta turnovers in the second quarter (including two straight turnovers to end the first half) turned it into a 51-51 tie game. The Hawks have struggled to put a 48-minute game together but showed some mettle and energy on defense late, getting down four with 4:31 left in the fourth before a scoring burst from Bogdan Bogdanovic and a missed jumper from Joel Embiid at the buzzer sealed the win. It’s an encouraging way to win a game, John Collins (17 points, five rebounds) said.

“It was really nice… I feel like everybody was connected, and that matters,” Collins said.

3. In his second game back from injury, Bogdanovic entered the fourth quarter 0-for-10 from the field and it stretched to 0-for-13 before his shot started falling at the perfect time. With the Hawks down four, Bogdanovic scored eight points in the final four-and-a-half minutes to reclaim the lead and edge the Sixers down the stretch, tallying 10 points and going 4-for-7 in the fourth quarter alone, finishing with 15 points (4-17 FG, 1-9 from 3-point range, 6-7 FT), five rebounds and two assists.

4. This was a nice defensive effort from Okongwu, who in his third game back from injury continues to demonstrate his maturing game. He stayed out of foul trouble and played smart defense on Joel Embiid, had some quality finishes around the rim and finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Embiid averages 25 points per game and with his size (7-foot) is usually a bad matchup for the Hawks. He still led the Sixers with 23 points and 10 rebounds, but had to work for everything he god.

“I thought he was really good,” McMillan said of Okongwu. “Embiid is one of the best centers in this league. He’s a handful. And my thought was to put Onyeka in the lineup and let him, put him out there, let him learn and get some experience playing against players like Embiid and I thought he did a solid job of just trying to make him work, not allowing him to get in a deep post positions. He was really physical with him and just made him chase on the offensive end of the floor.”

5. The hits just kept on coming for the Hawks, who also lost Cam Reddish and Delon Wright to injuries in this game. Reddish exited in the third quarter with what the Hawks ruled a right ankle sprain, with a left calf cramp, and Wright left in the fourth quarter with a left ankle sprain (Wright actually had to be helped off the court and looked to be in serious pain after stepping on Tyrese Maxey’s foot and landing wrong). After the game, McMillan said he thought Reddish was experiencing cramping more so than an injury, which would be good news for the Hawks, but didn’t have an update on Wright. Both had good games before departing, with Reddish leading the Hawks in scoring with 18 points, adding three assists, and Wright adding five points and five rebounds, leading the Hawks with six assists.

Stat of the game: 4-for-4 (what Bogdanovic shot from the field in the final 4:31, helping lift the Hawks to a close win, after going 0-13 to start the game)

Star of the game: Bogdanovic (had 10 points in the fourth quarter to secure the win)

Quotable: “It’s finding a rhythm, but at that point, it was personal in the end. I was like, ‘I can’t break the record tonight.’” (Bogdanovic joking about avoiding the record of the most consecutive missed field goals, 0-17, before his shot started falling in the fourth quarter)