Sixers fade away at end, lose to Hawks
PHILADELPHIA >> Jimmy Butler had
30 fateful seconds in the fourth to forget. The Philadelphia 76ers star guard lost the ball in a tie game on a drive down the lane that led to Atlanta’s John Collins finding separation and burying a fadeaway jumper with 25 seconds left for the lead.
Butler had a chance at atonement — he was 12 for 12 at the freethrow line and had two shots with
2.4 seconds left.
First shot, rattle and miss. Second shot, clang off the back of the rim.
Wilson Chandler slipped under the basket on the second attempt and missed his gimmie tip-in at the horn that helped the Hawks hang on to beat the Sixers 123-121 Friday night.
“I hope we’re still together,” Butler said. “Nobody pointing fingers at anybody.”
There were at least a few raised eyebrows after the hapless Hawks
(13-29) sent the Sixers to just their fourth home loss of the season. The Sixers struggled with All-Star center Joel Embiid out with a sore ankle suffered in a loss to Washington Wednesday. His presence was missed — Embiid leads the 76ers with averages of 26.9 points and
13.4 rebounds in 40 games — and the Hawks pounced.
Atlanta crushed the Sixers with
62 points in the paint and outrebounded Philly 44-30.
“You can start all over the place and whether it’s Joel or not Joel, you know we should be better defensively,” coach Brett Brown said. “It’s where we anchored our program and at the moment, we are poor. Right now, lately, we have been poor.”
The Hawks were happy to capitalize and hit 12 3s and shot 56 percent overall from the floor. Collins scored 25 points and Kevin Huerter hit five 3s and led the Hawks with 29 points.
Butler led the Sixers with 30 points and Ben Simmons had 23 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds.
JJ Redick, who missed the last two games with a sore back, led a comeback in the fourth with a pair of 3-pointers that tied the game each time. TJ McConnell put the 76ers ahead by one with 2:39 left. Huerter buried a 3 to tie it at 121.
“We just got to fix it,” Butler said. “I think we’re going to be fine. All I know is, everybody’s in there. We’re in it together. We’re not going separate ways.”