Jahlil Okafor was spunky again, at least on offense, and the Sixers were competitive for much of Saturday night’s game in Atlanta, but the visitors couldn’t keep up with the Hawks’ balance in a 117-96 loss.
The Sixers led 27-23 after one quarter, but Atlanta pulled away steadily from there, and blew open a close game over the final 10 minutes.
Okafor scored 18 points, Sergio Rodriguez added 13 and Nik Stauskas and Dario Saric pitched in 12 each, but the 76ers couldn’t keep up with one of the NBA’s top offenses.
The Sixers (1-8) failed to follow their first win of the season with another, as Atlanta (7-2) rolled out the versatility that has made the Hawks one of the top teams in the NBA’s Eastern Conference early.
The Sixers’ big problem in falling behind 59-48 by halftime was rebounding. They were slaughtered in the first half, 27-16, as Okafor couldn’t keep Dwight Howard (seven rebounds) off the boards, and Atlanta reserves came up with a whopping 11 rebounds.
Howard finished with 11 boards, and Atlanta had a 52-39 rebounding edge.
NBA
Even with the rebounding problems, the Sixers took the lead after a quarter on the strength of a 12-1 edge in fastbreak points.
Atlanta shutdown the outlet passes and open-court turnovers from that point on, however, and after the Hawks surged early in the fourth quarter to build upon an 87-78 third-quarter lead, both teams subbed liberally off their benches.
Inside the box score
• The Sixers were unable to repeat their rock-solid rebounding performance from Friday night, when they grabbed a season-high 54 against the Pacers, and rather were pounded on the boards.
• Stauskas followed up his 14-point performance from Friday with 12 points in a reserve role. He made 2 of 4 threes in 24 minutes.
• For just the second time in nine games, Rodriguez did not lead Philadelphia in assists. He had four. T.J. McConnell had six off the bench.
Cut off the head
The Hawks beat the Sixers in a variety of ways, but the Sixers' biggest problem came from the head of the snake – Atlanta point guard Dennis Schroder.
He went for 16 points, eight assists and five rebounds in just 28 minutes, and the young German consistently penetrated to either score at the rim or kick to open shooters. Schroder has taken over the point guard duties in Atlanta for Jeff Teague, who was traded to Indiana.
What about those guys?
Schroder actually had little to do with the Hawks’ 36-21 rally in the second quarter, when Atlanta overcame Philly’s 27-23 lead. The main culprits were swingmen Kent Bazemore, who scored seven points in the quarter, and Tim Hardaway Jr., who also scored seven off the bench.
It sure didn’t help that the Sixers made just 8 of 21 shots in the period. Sergio Rodriguez made all three of his shots, but the other four starters were 1 for 8.
Looking good, but hit the boards
Jahlil Okafor stumped the Hawks’ Howard with several keen offensive moves on his way to scoring 18, but he was nearly a non-factor on the boards.
In 24 minutes, he grabbed just six caroms while Howard swiped 11 rebounds as Atlanta dominated the glass.
Out of gas
After racking up his first double-double of the season Friday night, Ersan Ilyasova appeared on his way to another with six points and five rebounds in the first half, but he scored just three points in the second half and did not grab another rebound.
Up next
The Sixers will travel to Houston for a game Monday against the Rockets.