The Philadelphia 76ers were playing their style of basketball on Monday night on the road. They were moving the ball, guys were getting open looks, and they were able to build an 18-point lead as it looked like they would cruise to a 3-1 lead over the Atlanta Hawks.
Then, things immediately changed. They stopped moving the ball, they tried to play hero ball amid Joel Embiid’s struggles, and it cost them in a 103-100 loss in Game 4.
Philadelphia had 16 assists at halftime and it’s why they were able to build a 62-49 halftime lead. They were also able to knock down seven triples as they were able to get so many open looks in the beginning.
They only had seven assists in the second half and they shot just 4-for-16 from deep.
“We didn’t make many shots, we didn’t make shots in the second half, really when we did have some of those looks so that heightens the lack of ball moment there,” said Tobias Harris. “In the beginning, we did have some good early looks that usually fall for us they happened not to. So that hurt us.”
The biggest example of the lack of ball movement was Seth Curry. He shot 3-for-5 from deep in the first half as he was able to get good open looks off that movement, but he did not attempt a 3-pointer in the second half until late in the fourth quarter and he was out of rhythm on that shot.
“I don’t know why,” said Curry. “Just ball wasn’t moving, we weren’t getting really good shots offensively. Just gotta take a look at the tape and be better next game.”
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The Sixers definitely missed the veteran presence of Danny Green in this one, but the fact that just because they missed one guy should not have derailed their terrific ball movement from the first half.
“I don’t know, man,” said coach Doc Rivers. “If that’s what we need to win, one guy telling someone, we should all know it and do it anyway, right?”
There were plenty of times in the second half when Curry and even Furkan Korkmaz were open from the perimeter and they did not get the ball. That is on everybody to step up and move the ball when the time calls for it.
“The problem was he was open 10 more times and he didn’t get the ball,” Rivers said of Curry. “Furk was open and didn’t get the ball. When guys are open, we gotta pass it to him, and trust. We just didn’t do that as a whole group. It wasn’t one guy, it’s everybody.”
Of course, it did not help that Embiid went 0-for-12 in the second half, but that is not a valid reason why the ball just stuck in the second half. The biggest thing now is making sure the big fella is ready for Game 5 on Wednesday to lead the way.
“He’s the most dominant player in the game, making shots or not making shots,” Harris said of Embiid. “We know what he brings to this team and I know he’ll bounce back next game. That’s really it.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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