With Philadelphia on the road, the 76ers beat the Atlanta Hawks 118-102, led by Joel Embiid (Joel Embiid) and the sensational Shake Milton (Shake Milton) in the second half. The next series ended. Embiid will score 40 points and 13 rebounds in one of his best all-around performances of the season.

This is what I saw.

Ok

• Do you think the 76ers are ready to expel some demons from the first game? The first “play” of this game-if you can even call it that-is Danny Green grabbing the opening tips and dunking. This time, Philadelphia caught the game early. When there is a noisy Wells Fargo Center behind you, usually you only need a hot start to put it on the bed.

The first to charge was Tobias Harris. Although Embiid might have extra motivation after the game, he managed to control the game. MVP results announcedThe Sixers simplified the game to the most basic level, allowing Harris to play one-on-one against a series of Atlanta guards who couldn’t and couldn’t stop him, from Solomon Hill to Kevin Hult. The home audience reveled in Harris taking the players to the midfield and starting work, which seemed unthinkable a season ago.

Unfortunately, Rivers decided to replace Harris early to stagger the lineup. This was a request made by many people after the first game, and it was ultimately out of good intentions.But Harris is 07 Weezy modeBefore the Hawks proved they could stop him, there was a good reason for him to stay there. Philadelphia finally got the best of both worlds from this decision-their scoring slowed down in a short period of time, and their bench was finally cooked by Harris on the court to help them.

Please note that this did not affect his outstanding performance, but it did hinder this sensational start.

• Harris’ excellent start came as a stalemate during their defensive adjustments for most of the first half. Doc Rivers put Ben Simmons on Trae Young to start the game, and the 76ers made the screeners higher in the average pick-and-roll. These two things alone are enough to change the tone of the opening season.

Unsurprisingly, using Simmons on Young is itself a difference maker. When you have a good and smart defender like Simmons, you have to believe that he is smart enough not to be lured into enough cheap fouls to get him out of the game.This is part of what made him so influential on the defensive end throughout the season. Simmons finally played Both Yang’s pick-and-roll ended, sliding across the screen while defending Yang, and disturbing Yang by showing a high position where he was defending the screener.

In this game, the two Simmons/Embiid destruction team is absolutely sensational. When Matisse Sebull took over Yang’s task in the game, Simmons did a few wonderful games to help Capella stand up, when Embiid had to play and performed better in the game against Yang. When high, he broke the lob. Embiid is sometimes outright extraordinary. He hit Yang in the face from outside the three-point line, somehow found a way back to the basket, and then passed the ball from the rolling Swiss center.

Young was still looking for an open shooter and allowed the Eagles to remain in the game as a passer with some success, but the 76ers succeeded in allowing him to focus on that area of ??the game instead of eating cake and eating.

• Embiid defended his end-of-season awards again and again this season, but after he finished his speech on the MVP trophy, he always made sure to emphasize that the championship was his first and only outstanding goal. mind. After Jokic was named MVP on Tuesday, does he have extra motivation? Maybe. But this is certainly not the reason why he is now playing with his players on the court in pain.

His competitiveness on the court is also reflected in his current playing style. Sometimes it was a bad thing-at the end of the first half he was upset because there was no answer, he briefly risked being deported and put his hand on Danilo Gallinari. Sometimes, this means that Clint Capela (Clint Capela) carried him a despicable robbery after being back on his back and violently hitting him twice. This is the norm this season, and the rare moment Embiid lost his cool is worth the rest.

Capella can’t stop him tonight. Capela was forced to play in foul trouble almost all night, and Embiid used his height advantage to force the problem even when Atlanta put pressure in his way. Using pass fakes to persuade the defender that he was going to hit the shooter, Embiid bought enough time and space for himself to continue his singles match with Capella, and achieved it after all said and done victory.It’s hard to get a 7-foot center to simply cash out a jumper in front of you

I just want to reiterate this, even though it has been briefly mentioned above-this may be my favorite big man defensive performance this season. Dragging the team into the offensive end of the long game, Embiid is still the ruler of the basket, he looks as smooth and flexible as he has been in space all year long. On several occasions, Young tried to make Embiid dance in space, and the MVP runner-up sent his smaller opponent to the shadow realm.

For several reasons, they drew 1-1 with Atlanta, but the big man topped the list. Sensational performance.

• The unlikely hero of the second game, Shaq Milton, has been collecting dust and cobwebs from the bench after the brutal start of the playoffs. But because the bench needed something different and the game was undecided, Rivers’ trusted bench leader staged one of his best first half of the season.

It is no exaggeration to say that when Milton came to power, the Philadelphia season was up in the air. Falling 2-0 would be a disaster for the 76ers, and when the second team had to play for the 76ers, Atlanta’s bench mob was only one point behind. Everything Milton did from there is reminiscent of the NBA Jam performance, except for the BOOMSHAKALAKA from Matt Cod on the speakers, everything else is included.

When Milton made it all work, he was a very interesting player who could shoot layups from strange angles and tilt out of balance. But this was just a straightforward offensive from the city center, and his performance at the end of the quarter highlighted the hysterical situation that he made the capacity crowd into hysterics.

Milton caught the Holy Spirit while standing opposite Louis Williams. This is a wonderful thing. His profession is to take down the bench and lead his team for incredible runs when they need it most. Milton will almost certainly return to the game in the third game, and the 76ers hope this is the beginning of a full-blown game.

bad

• Rivers may have slightly adjusted his rotation, but this has not changed the fact that the bench underperformed in this series. They are facing a team with a strong second team, I will admit that, but as long as this series is not a starter versus a starter, the 76ers will absolutely dominate.

Part of the reason is that the Atlanta bench can force the mismatch they want. Former 76ers guard Williams is clearly an excellent conversion hunter. For years he has been delighted to get the person he wants in front of him, but for Danilo Gallinari, it can also be different. The way to say it, he is happy to shoot almost anyone shorter than him. The 76ers gave him a bunch of such matchups, from Tyrese Maxi to George Hill, the Italian forward played in the first half to help Atlanta stay in it.

On the other hand, you can say that the bench is worse. In the first 24 minutes of the game, Philadelphia did not have a bench scorer, and the bench Eagles defeated the bench 76ers 32-0. It’s hard to manage, but it’s obvious even if you don’t keep track of the score-Furkan Korkmaz threw multiple air balls, Hill tried layups at the basket, and Maxey continued to find a position. The series had a difficult start. Dwight Howard didn’t do much. When the 76ers tried to get Simmons back on the fortress, they ran into the pitch issue they dealt with when they played together all season.

There is no really ideal solution here. Can Rivers ensure that there are multiple states on the floor at all times? of course. But the starter’s playing time is very long, which is not to say that the 76ers were killed, because Atlanta surprised him by allowing Tre Young to attack Maxi and his team. The Hawks are decisively winning the bench battle fashion, which puts more pressure on the starters to play perfect basketball.

(Maybe the solution is just to rely on Milton, because the 76ers did it most of the regular season. It definitely worked well on Tuesday.)

• Seth Curry’s poor defensive performance in the first game was an underrated secondary plot behind the headlines, but we have been preparing him to become a moving target throughout the season. With the 76ers changing their coverage and their main defender, Young, Atlanta’s next step is always to figure out where to go next. The simple answer is, “No matter where Seth Curry is on the court.”

That’s how it is-Green’s defensive disaster level (which is actually just a continuation of his first game) is even more unforgivable. In the second consecutive game, Green was defeated by the player’s rejection of the screen in the pick-and-roll, the slow speed of bypassing the screen, and the often deviation from position. Some of his biggest mistakes occurred during the transition period, when Green missed missions many times, resulting in a three-pointer for the Hawks in the fast break.

At least Curry is and is making up for this with his shots. Not only does Green lack his appearance on offense, but he shouldn’t even think about shooting in cold weather.I usually admire his mentality that he is ready to fire at any time. This team sometimes desperately needs this mentality, but caution is okay. sometimes.

• Simmons’ defensive contribution in this game cannot be underestimated. They are not an excuse for his offensive incompetence, and his passive attitude is an important reason why the offense sometimes stagnates throughout the game.

When the 76ers entered a late situation, someone had to cover their face with their hands to make a jumper, usually because their best appearance in 24 seconds was missed by their point guard. It’s not that Simmons can’t create a separation or get into the paint against the Hawks, but that he actively avoided looking for the rim in Tuesday’s game. You can insert your own explanation to explain why it happened. I believe many people will be after the game, but this is the behavior we have seen in too many big games for many years.

If it were not for the second half of the bench, this would be a bigger topic after the game. Let us hope that he can regain his footing when the series goes to Atlanta.

ugly

• Seriously, I have to reiterate this because it seems impossible. None of your substitutes can lead 32-0 at halftime. That is very embarrassing.

Follow Kyle on Twitter: @Kyle newback