ATLANTA – For a while Saturday night, the Sixers looked as if they might double their pleasure and follow Friday’s overtime win over the Pacers with another shootout victory.
Then, the Hawks outgunned them, 117-96, and Jahlil Okafor’s 18 points and the Sixers’ 11 threes went nearly for naught (see Instant Replay).
The Sixers (1-8) charged to a 27-23 lead after one quarter and hardly looked like a team that had played the night before and traveled. They made 12 of 23 shots in the first period, forced nine Atlanta turnovers and had youth on their side.
Atlanta, though, had sharpshooters, and quite a few of them.
Plus, the Hawks are kinda smart.
Atlanta (7-2) shot 50.6 percent over the final three quarters, including 11 of their 13 made three-pointers, and turned the ball over just seven more times. They also outrebounded the Sixers 40-30 after the first quarter to win.
This was more competitive than when Atlanta whipped the 76ers 104-72 in the second game of the season, but the Hawks’ savvy was more than the young Sixers could handle.
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The Sixers rode a 12-1 advantage in fast break points to that first-quarter lead, but the Hawks were 16-6 in that category thereafter.
Okafor had his moments against Atlanta center Dwight Howard while making 7 of 13 shots and 4 of 8 free throws, but the Hawks moved the ball smartly, racking up 31 assists to the Sixers' 21.
“Playing against them definitely makes you work,” Okafor said after grabbing six rebounds and blocking a shot. “They’re one of the best teams in the East, and . . . that’s a really hard team to play for 48 minutes.
“They defend really well. They punish you if you turn the ball over. If you take a fast shot, they get layups, they have Dwight down the middle, they’re just a really good team.”
Howard put up an NBA-leading seventh double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, but he wasn’t the story in Atlanta.
The Hawks won with balance.
Tim Hardaway had one 20-point game off the bench last season for Atlanta, yet notched his third of the season Saturday with 20 while making 5 of 10 from three.
He had help.
Six Hawks scored in double figures, with small forward Kent Bazemore pitching in 17 and point guard Dennis Schroder throwing in 16 with a game-high eight assists.
When Atlanta turned the game around with a 36-21 second quarter, though, Schroder had little to do with it. He had no points or assists.
Again, the Hawks’ balance was the difference.
Four starters and four reserves scored in the period, and Atlanta had 12 assists, made 16 of 28 shots, outrebounded the Sixers 15-7, and turned the ball over just twice.
The Hawks outscored the Sixers 13-0 in fast break points in the period, and whipped them 18-6 in the paint with reserve forward Kris Humphries scoring six and grabbing three rebounds.
Other than point guard Sergio Rodriguez, who made all three of his shots in the period on the way to scoring 13 points with four assists, the Sixers were 5 of 18.
Atlanta, meanwhile, kept sharing.
“They’re athletic, they share the ball, they move, they made shots,” said Sixers coach Brett Brown.
With all their injuries, the Sixers entered Philips Arena at a disadvantage. They played up for a bit, but ultimately fell to fate.
They cut Atlanta’s lead to two points a couple times in the third quarter, lastly when Ersan Ilyasova’s three pulled the Sixers to within 76-74 with 3:49 left in the period.
The Hawks then went on a 16-4 run stretching into the final quarter.
Beaten on the boards 52-39, and 40-30 over the final three periods, the Sixers over time looked tired – youth be damned.
“Off a back-to-back, some guys might have been tired,” said forward Robert Covington after scoring 11 points. “Having to fight back, we exerted a lot more energy and we were shorthanded.”
Okafor felt better about the Hawks, in a way, than a few weeks ago.
“We do get better playing against them, and seeing how they work together,” he said. “It’s pretty impressive.”