Scene Setter:
The 76ers (7-41) have gone three nights since their previous game. On the heels of back-to-back practices days, they return to action Wednesday at 7:00 PM EST versus the Atlanta Hawks (28-22), the fourth-best team in the Eastern Conference. The contest will be held at The Center, where the Sixers will wrap up a brief two-game homestand.
The Sixers put forth a spirited, entertaining performance in their 108-105 defeat to the Golden State Warriors this past Saturday. The Sixers backed the defending NBA champions into the ropes, scoring six straight points in the span of half a minute to tie the tilt at 105-105 with 22.3 seconds remaining in regulation. Warriors forward Harrison Barnes nailed a corner three-pointer with 00.2 seconds to go to decide the game. Seven members of the Sixers finished in double-figures. Isaiah Canaan paced his team with 18 points and five three-point field goals. Robert Covington registered his third double-double of the campaign, tallying 12 points and 13 rebounds. Atlanta is hoping that a 112-97 triumph over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday will mark the team’s first step towards breaking out of a near two-week funk. Prior to the dominant win, the Hawks had fallen in five of six contests, after having won three straight games. Jeff Teague, an All-Star last season and the subject of recent trade rumors, stepped up to turn in his most prolific performance of the year. He dropped 32 points, hitting 12 of his 15 shots from the field. Atlanta punished Dallas from the perimeter, nailing 14 of 35 heaves from beyond the arc. In two appearances leading up to Monday’s game, Atlanta had connected on 12 of 50 three-point attempts. Series: Aside from the Sixers’ 92-84 victory over Atlanta last March, the Hawks have prevailed in nine of the previous 10 editions of this Eastern Conference rivalry. This run includes Atlanta’s 126-98 win in the teams’ most recent meeting on January 7th at The Center. The Hawks’ attack was balanced that night, as three of their starters recorded at least 18 points. Kent Bazemore led the way with 22 points, while forward Paul Millsap and center Al Horford combined for 36 points and 15 rebounds. Atlanta sunk 53.3 percent of its field goal attempts, and teed off on 13 three-pointers. Jahlil Okafor scored 21 points for the Sixers. Nerlens Noel hauled in 13 rebounds, and generated nine points. Subplots:
The Sixers enjoyed a decent start in their previous confrontation with Atlanta, jumping out to a 21-15 lead on the reigning Eastern Conference regular season champions. The Hawks then hit the Sixers with a tone-changing 19-0 surge that bridged the first and second quarters. Atlanta led by as many as 35 points before securing a 126-98 victory. “We’re going to look to not repeat a single thing. Really,” said Brett Brown, reflecting on his team’s performance in that contest. “That is one of those games that you quickly forget. We’ve had a small dose of those types of games. That’s one of them. We feel like we’re in a different place right now.”Only once this season have the Sixers surrendered more points than they did versus the Hawks back on January 7th (they spotted the Los Angeles Clippers 130 points on January 2nd). Furthermore, the Sixers yielded 13 three-pointers, a season-high. Since then, the Sixers have manufactured the ninth-best defensive rating (101.5 points allowed per 100 possessions) in the NBA. The team with a league-low 97.5 defensive rating during this same period of time? Atlanta, coached for a third straight season by Mike Budenholzer. He and Brown were both assistants on Gregg Popovich’s San Antonio Spurs coaching staff, and hired to their current positions in the 2013 off-season. “Mike is a good friend of mine. I worked with him for 12 years,” Brown said. “Some of the stuff we’re trying to doing the same, trying to take our Spurs’ life and replicating that in our own programs.”What Brown’s Sixers won’t aim to replicate, though, is any aspect of their last showing against Budenholzer’s Hawks.
Sixers Chairman of Basketball Operations Jerry Colangelo capped a six-day trip to the East Coast on Tuesday by sitting in on the team’s practice at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. The workout session was the second one he’s attended over the past four weeks. Having turned 76 in November, Colangelo, a 2004 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinee, remains busy. He was formally hired by the Sixers just days after his birthday, and still remains in charge of the United State’s Men’s Basketball Olympics program, acting as the team’s Managing Director.Brett Brown considers Colangelo nothing short of an enthusiastic new front office partner with whom he can now collaborate. “Part of Jerry’s role is for him to come and speak to all of us and share ideas face to face,” said Brown on Tuesday. “It’s great having him around. He’ll be here a few days a month and we talk all the time on phone and just talking is a good thing.”You can tell in about two words that he has a lot of energy. His first few words of a sentence, if you never met him, he has tons of energy and a lot of passion for helping us and I think he sees what we all see–it’s an incredible opportunity that he again has a chance to come and put his own thumbprint on helping us steer this path. It’s good to have him around. He is not lacking in passion or energy by any stretch.”The itinerary for Colangelo’s recent visit included appointments in New York, where he caught up with members of the Sixers’ ownership group. He appeared in front of corporate partners and season ticket-holders as well. Colangelo is a full-time resident of the Phoenix area.
According to Brett Brown, the Sixers got a clean bill of health for Wednesday’s pairing with the Atlanta Hawks. Robert Covington had been the only question mark. He sat out Monday’s practice due to gastroenteritis, but felt fine Tuesday. “Everybody is OK,” said Brown. “We had everybody here at practice [Tuesday]. Nerlens [Noel] had some (knee) soreness, but not anything to make mention of. Robert Covington missed practice [Monday], but he was back today.”Just because the Sixers’ 14 active roster members have all received the go-ahead to suit up against Atlanta doesn’t mean they aren’t dealing with bumps and bruises. T.J. McConnell, for instance, still sports a badge of honor from having crashed into the set of sideline seats adjacent to the Sixers’ bench four games ago, in their 112-92 loss to the Boston Celtics. The laceration he sustained on his left leg takes up most of the area around his shin. “T.J. McConnell continues to amaze me,” Brown said. “He continues to play not with the most pretty (style) after diving into the stands, he keeps battling. He’s a marine. He’s incredible. That’s somebody you love coaching. He plays with his heart on his sleeve and he’s relentless.”McConnell is the Sixers’ iron man. He’s the only player to have appeared in all 48 of the team’s contests. Brown expects Ish Smith, Nik Stauskas, Covington, Nerlens Noel, and Jahlil Okafor to start on Wednesday.
Sixers Health Report:
Elton Brand (conditioning)
Stay Connected:
TV – Comcast SportsNet
Radio – 97.5 FM The Fanatic (and additional Sixers Radio Network affiliate stations)
Video Stream – http://www.csnphilly.com / NBC Sports Live Extra
