Eastern Conference Semi-Final: Atlanta Hawks vs Philadelphia 76ers Preview and Prediction

Season Series

Result: 76ers won 2-1

Best game: May 1, 2021 – 76ers 126, Hawks 104

Best performance: Trae Young (April 30, 2021) – 32 points (10-of-19 FG, 2-of-6 3PT, 10-of-10 FT), four assists

The 76ers won the last two meetings of the season by a combined 66 points, both coming at home at Wells Fargo Center, which they’ve turned into a huge homecourt advantage in recent seasons.

Their lone loss to the Hawks came in January, (112-94), however, they were missing eight players due to health and safety protocols, including Seth Curry, Tobias Harris, Shake Milton, and Matisse Thybulle, while Ben Simmons was sidelined with a knee injury. So when you look at the previous 3 games this season it doesn’t look good for the Atlanta Hawks, but we all know that the regular season matchups can look far different than playoff matchups where the pressure kicks up ten-fold. This series should be an exciting affair and down to the wire, if you want to use what you learn in this article to make the series even more exciting and place a bet we recommend you click on this site for the best odds https://22bet.co.tz/line/

Joe Embiids health?

Joel Embiid, who missed their Game 5 win over the Wizards with a small lateral meniscus tear in his right knee. The MVP finalist is considered day-to-day, but as the best player in the series, he is the key to the 76ers success. Now, the Hawks are one of the teams that would be best prepared to handle a healthy Embiid as they can counter Embiid with Clin Capela. If the 76ers are missing Embiid expect them to try to play at a faster pace as they did in game 5 against Washington, the only problem there would be you would be playing more the style the Hawks want you to play at.

I think if they miss Embiid for a game or two that the faster pace can still steal w win for the 76ers as it would pull Clint Capela away from the basket and open some things up, but if it is a series-long issue and Embiid misses a lot of time I do not see the Sixers surviving an entire series with Embiid playing half the time or less.

Matisse Thybulle, Philadelphia 76ers defending Trae Young

The 76ers already have the best defender of point guards in Ben Simmons, but Thybulle gives them another lethal defensive weapon to shadow Young.

Against the Wizards, Thybulle played just 16.7 minutes per game, but he was monstrous on the defensive end, averaging 1.6 steals and 1.6 blocks per game, including a huge Game 2 performance where he recorded four steals and five blocks in under 20 minutes. I think in this series Thybulle may be the most important 76er because if you want to limit open looks it will take more than just Simmons to do it.

Prediction

This looks to be a long series as you have a great offense matching up with a great defense. Look for the difference to be the Sixers ability to defend the perimeter and a huge home-court advantage for the Sixers. This series is a toss-up but I am leaning the Sixers in a great 7 game series. Sixers in 7!