After coming away with a much-needed win in Brooklyn against the Nets, the Philadelphia 76ers returned to the Xfinity Mobile Arena in a matchup against the Atlanta Hawks. Despite the absence of stars Trae Young and Kristaps Porzingis, the Hawks have continued to find success with rising stars Jalen Johnson and Dyson Daniels.
The season has been a struggle for Philly as of late. Injuries have added a familiar dark cloud over the team, but in this game, they saw a number of returns.
Paul George and VJ Edgecombe both returned, but the headline was Joel Embiid, who played his first game since Nov. 8 after dealing with some mysterious soreness in his right knee. Andre Drummond also returned after exiting Friday's game due to having only missed a portion of the team's previous game due to what was called a right knee sprain, though he only saw six minutes of action in this game.
It was a rather even game throughout, as neither team was able to establish a meaningful advantage over the other. Tyrese Maxey and Quentin Grimes led the way offensively for Philadelphia, while Paul George and Dominick Barlow provided a much-needed lift defensively.
Barlow deserves special mention for his continued success this season. His ability to rebound, pass, and protect the rim completely transforms what the Sixers are able to do on the court. In nearly 40 minutes played, Barlow's 10 points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks played a massive role in their comeback effort.
The closing seconds of the fourth quarter, the final moments in which Philadelphia was able to force overtime, began with Barlow not only sinking a tough shot under the basket while drawing the and-one opportunity. Barlow would miss the free throw, which led to an offensive rebound by Paul George and kick out to Tyrese Maxey, who drained the clutch three to send the game to overtime.
In overtime, the two teams continued their back-and-forth, and it was the Sixers who wound up with the lead and the ball with Tyrese Maxey at the line up two with 4.6 seconds left on the clock. Though a more than capable free-throw shooter, Maxey failed to give Philadelphia the lead, missing both free throws and allowing Atlanta one more opportunity to tie or take the lead. With 0.3 seconds left to play, Dominick Barlow fouled Hawks star Jalen Johnson, sending him to the line with the opportunity to tie the game.
After a wild and confusing timeout by the Sixers that was initially thought to be a coach's challenge, Hawks star Jalen Johnson finally attempted and knocked down his free throws, sending the game to a second overtime period.
Both Joel Embiid and Paul George played in the initial overtime period but sat for double OT. Both play at or about 30 minutes on the night, and the team simply could not risk further injury.
In their place, Adem Bona and Jared McCain — who replaced George in the first overtime — took to the court.
Initially, it was a battle between Tyrese Maxey and Hawks wing Nickeil Alexander-Walker. The back-and-forth scoring effort was eventually broken up by back-to-back three-pointers by Jalen Johnson, which put him into career-high scoring territory, finishing with 41 points, and sealing the 142-134 win for Atlanta.
Tyrese Maxey paced the Sixers with 44 points, followed by 28 by Quentin Grimes, 18 by Joel Embiid, and 16 by Paul George. It's a frustrating loss, considering victory was a free throw away. One can point to what positives they will, but simply put, the game was in hand, and the opportunity was squandered.
The Sixers will take to their home court Tuesday night against the Washington Wizards. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. The Wizards will be without sharpshooter Corey Kispert and electric rookie Tre Johnson.
