3 observations after Sixers keep in-season tourney hopes alive with win in Atlanta originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Sixers’ hopes of an NBA Cup run remain alive.
They moved to 2-1 in East Group A by earning a 126-116 win at State Farm Arena on Friday night over the Hawks.
Joel Embiid recorded 32 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
Tobias Harris scored a season-high 29 points and grabbed 10 boards. Tyrese Maxey had 19 points and eight assists.
Atlanta’s star point guard Trae Young posted 22 points and 13 assists.
The Sixers, who are now 9-3 overall, were without Kelly Oubre Jr. (fractured rib) and Nicolas Batum (personal reasons).
The team’s last group-stage game is next Tuesday against the Cavaliers.
The Sixers are currently second in the East Group A standings, behind only the Pacers (2-0). Atlanta and Cleveland are both 1-1, while the Pistons are 0-3. The top team in every group and two wild cards — the best-performing non-winners from each conference — will advance to the NBA Cup quarterfinals.
Before that in-season tournament game in Cleveland, the Sixers will head to Brooklyn and play the Nets on Sunday afternoon.
Here are observations on their win over the Hawks:
Harris, Sixers flexing early
Harris scored the Sixers’ first four points, including a layup after he made a flex cut out of a beautifully executed Horns set.
The Sixers had gone to the same action early last Friday in their win over the Pistons, though Harris wasn’t open there and Oubre missed a tightly contested layup.
Called plays featuring Harris flex cuts have generally been promising for the Sixers. Any confusion in coverage has tended to result in a Harris layup or dunk, and the 6-foot-8 forward has finished well inside.
In Atlanta, the Sixers had Harris make that flex cut over and over from Horns. He got one more easy first-quarter hoop from the action, and the Sixers’ offense still flowed nicely when Harris wasn’t available. Embiid posted 11 points and four assists in the first.
The balance between hammering a play relentlessly and having sufficient variety is sometimes hard to strike, but the Sixers seem to be…
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