3 observations after undermanned, undersized Sixers lose to Hawks

3 observations after undermanned, undersized Sixers lose to Hawks originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Sixers completed an unsurprising, undermanned back-to-back split Monday night in Atlanta.

The Hawks picked up a 132-123 win at State Farm Arena, improving to 31-34. The Sixers fell to 22-42.

In the NBA draft lottery picture, the Sixers and Nets now have identical records. The Raptors moved to 22-43 with a victory over the Wizards.

Quentin Grimes was the Sixers’ standout Monday with 35 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals.

Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels recorded 25 points and No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher scored 22.

The Sixers were down the following players:

• Tyrese Maxey (lower back sprain and right finger sprain)

• Paul George (left groin soreness)

• Kelly Oubre Jr. (right ankle sprain)

• Andre Drummond (illness)

• Kyle Lowry (right hip injury management)

• Joel Embiid (season-ending left knee injury)

• Jared McCain (season-ending left lateral meniscus surgery)

• Eric Gordon (season-ending right wrist surgery)

George will also miss Wednesday’s game against Toronto, a Sixers official said, and he’ll be re-evaluated before Friday’s matchup with the Pacers. The 34-year-old is receiving treatment and continuing to consult with physicians, according to the official.

Star guard Trae Young (left quad contusion) was among the sidelined Hawks.

Here are observations on the Sixers’ loss in Atlanta:

Butler and Dowtin at the point

Jared Butler started at point guard for the first time since Feb. 12 and shared a backcourt with Grimes.

After a 15-point, nine-assist outing Sunday in the Sixers’ win over the Jazz, Butler again showed his playmaking skills. Atlanta scored the night’s first five points, but Butler drilled a step-back jumper and then tossed a skip pass to set up a Justin Edwards three-pointer. Butler also connected with Adem Bona on an alley-oop in the first quarter.

Though Butler had a few nice moments when he probed the defense and patiently circled around the paint, he was sometimes a tad deliberate in his approach. Still, 11 points, six assists and one turnover over 24 minutes is a decent spot-start performance.

The Sixers had no real choices to make about their backup point guard Monday. Jeff Dowtin Jr. played that role and was productive again, tallying 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting in 28 minutes.

Sixers severely undersized

The Sixers only had nine players available and used all of them. The team’s second unit was Dowtin, Ricky Council IV, Alex Reese and Bona.

Guerschon Yabusele and Bona were the Sixers’ two healthy centers. Yabusele, who’d played just 12 minutes vs. Utah, logged 28 minutes Monday and posted seven points, four assists and three rebounds. He’s looked worn down lately, which makes tons of sense. It’s his first NBA season since the 2018-19 campaign. He’s hit the 60-game mark and had many grueling nights at center.

Sixers head coach Nick Nurse was asked Sunday whether Yabusele is dealing with any specific physical issues.

“Not that I know of, other than heavy minutes,” Nurse said. “Lots of minutes, lots of games.”

As usual, rebounding was a challenge for the Sixers. The Hawks didn’t obliterate the Sixers on the glass, but they certainly capitalized on their superior team size. Atlanta racked up 44 points in the paint over the first two quarters and went up as many as 16 points in the second period.

Not enough shooting magic

Grimes remained effective in a high-usage role.

While he continued to display his ability as an isolation scorer and caught fire in the fourth quarter, Grimes didn’t draw a free throw until there was two minutes left. Of course, 35 points on 25 field goal attempts is not shabby efficiency at all.

Lonnie Walker IV cooled off considerably after his 25-point game against the Jazz, scoring 11 points and going 4 for 14 from the floor. Given the circumstances — shorthanded on the second night of a back-to-back — it’s no shocker the Sixers did not have a brilliant outside shooting night. They were still a little better than usual beyond the arc at 16 for 42 (38.1 percent).

More Hawks jumpers began to drop in the third quarter and Atlanta’s lead exceeded 20 points by late in the period.

To beat the Hawks, the Sixers likely would’ve required a dramatic flurry of threes. Even with Atlanta’s sloppiness in the closing stages, that was never likely to happen at a sufficient level.