Sixers - Hawks Recap: Taking Care of Business with the 1 Seed in Sight

I’m sure that’ll be the biggest Philly sports news of the night!

Your Philadelphia 76ers are a half game back of the East’s number one seed, after taking care of business against Atlanta last night, 126 – 104, in a game where Dwight Howard was their leading scorer, and Matisse Thybulle had 5 assists.

The Hawks started hot, coming out to a lead of 19-8 in the first quarter without several key rotation players. But as Danny Green switched onto the dangerous Trae Young and Joel Embiid changed how he defended the pick and roll, the sixers were able to take off before halftime, especially powered by their second All Star in Ben Simmons, who scored an efficient 18 along with his usual elite defense and great passing, including this thunderous dunk.

The role players especially came to play in this one, as Thybulle, Howard, Furkan Korkmaz and Shake Milton all provided quality minutes and were able to either add on or hold the lead the starters created. Also, Bball Paul is firmly out the mud, coming up with this huge block, and then took it the other way himself!

The sixers have 9 more games, all in May, as the race for home court advantage in the playoffs becomes closer. The Nets had a chance to keep their 1.5 game lead but dropped a game to the Trailblazers. Next, the Sixers play the Spurs on Sunday, while the Nets play the Bucks in a nationally televised game. With Bucks and Sixers wins, Philadelphia would have sole possession of the first seed in the east, and would be able to keep it by winning out. Tonight was also the third straight win for the sixers, and over that stretch they posted the best point differential in a three game winning streak in franchise history, which is a great sign if this Sixers team can hit their stride when it matters most.