Turnovers killed the Hawks in the second-half
Whether it is the regular season or the postseason, turning the ball over kills a team’s momentum and on the road in the NBA playoffs, this is a recipe for disaster! Atlanta finished Game 2 with 17 total turnovers, 12 of which came in the second-half!
A lot of the turnovers Atlanta had came from Philadelphia being extremely aggressive and physical on the defensive-end of the court, so we cannot discredit the job the Sixers did, but Atlanta has to be more cognizant on the offensive-end of the court and not let the 76ers force them to play at a certain speed.
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Philadelphia wanted this game more than Atlanta did and this was very apparent when the Hawks had the ball on offense. The Sixers swarmed the ball, regardless of who had it and quite honestly, it just looked like they were playing harder than the Hawks in the second-half, resulting in them getting plenty of steals and pushing the pace on the other end of the court.
Atlanta found a ton of success in Game 1 by playing at a faster pace than imagined and knocking down 20 three-point shots, but Philadelphia has made it clear based on how they have been playing defense that this is not going to happen again.
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As a result, Atlanta needs to go back to their roots of what they have been doing all season long of playing high pick-and-roll basketball. Whether it is Clint Capela or John Collins setting screens, the Hawks need to focus on driving the ball to the basket more and playing physical basketball in the paint.
If they can attack the paint early in Game 3 of this series, Philly will begin sinking their defense back in, which will allow guys like Danilo Gallinari, Kevin Huerter and Bogdan Bogdanovic to get the same open looks from the perimeter they were getting in Game 1.
Offensively, there are plenty of adjustments to be made for the Hawks to be successful and win on their home court, but everything will start with taking care of the basketball. If you turn the ball over against this Philadelphia team, good luck stopping them because Ben Simmons has looked like a freight train running in transition, as have Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris.
