Atlanta Hawks: Sixers 117, Hawks 83

• “I could have never imagined that kind of win tonight,” said Sixers coach Doug Collins, who apparently hasn’t watched the Hawks very much.
• Perhaps this a chicken-and-egg thing for the Hawks. Do they just not care enough to play better than this against an opponent they eclipse in talent, or do they just look like they don’t care when they can’t play better than this against an opponent they eclipse in talent?
• L.D. seemed to think it was more of the former after another home surrender:
• “It is just totally unacceptable to come out and play with that type energy, that type so-called passion, to play almost as if they don’t care. And that’s a reflection of me. If that’s the case, then I am going to have to make some changes to my starting lineup. I’ve seen that way too often and if that’s the way we are going to start basketball games, I am not going to sit here and take it I am going to make some changes.”
• Which of course begs the question: Which changes could he possibly make to fix what have been persistent problems for this team?
• Drew can get Al back in the lineup, ASAP. That’s not going to suddenly make the Hawks be a team that doesn’t rely heavily on making jump shots to score, rebounds on defense, defends dribble penetration and slows opponents in transition that match (or exceed) their athleticism.
• Here is what L.D. had to say about Jrue Holiday and Co. dancing through his team’s defense:
• “Bad defense. That’s all it was. We were broken down off the dribble where it was man-on-man. We were exploited off the dribble. We know Philadelphia has guys that are capable but we cannot come out and constantly let a team penetrate our interior like that. And it happened from the start and it happened until the end. When you play where team is constantly breaking down off the dribble, you are in a lot of rotation situations, you are forcing bigs to come and help, they put it up in the glass, they get the offensive rebound.”
• This is not a new revelation. As I said, it’s not like L.D. has a lot of good options but his distribution of minutes this season shows that this is a weakness that he has not purposefully tried to shore up with the personnel available to him.
• After the Hawks surrendered defensively in the first half, Drew could have made good on his threat to change lineups. The move would have sent a message to his starters at the same time it allowed him to experiment. Instead, he sent out the same group that couldn’t defend in the first half and saw them fail to do much better after halftime.
• So, back to the chicken-and-egg thing: Did this happen because the Hawks don’t care or did it just look like that because they couldn’t overcome their deficiencies?
• “I don’t think anybody didn’t care,” Marvin said. “Obviously when you get down by such a huge deficit, guys’ body language is going to change and that’s what frustrates [Drew] the most. He doesn’t like to see that. But anybody that laces their shoes up cares, especially on this team. I can say that wholeheartedly.”
• At the very least, Marvin (10 points, 10 rebounds, a handful of hustle plays) can say that for himself in this game.
• Home fans booed the Hawks a bit at halftime and again in the second half. Eventually, they just seemed to grow bored and disinterested. I mean the fans, not the Hawks, though I guess it could be both if you buy into L.D.’s theory.
• “I don’t care who we are playing, we should never be down by 30,” Jamal said. “I think that is just caring more. We have got to continue to hold each other accountable and keep getting better.”
• With Al out, Etan inactive and the game moving too fast for Twin, L.D. tried various small lineups that included Smoove, Josh Powell and (if I saw what I think saw) even Damien at center.
• The Sixers continued to run past the Hawks, dominate them on the boards and make most of the plentiful open shots that were available and the few that the Hawks managed to challenge.
• “When we wasn’t making shots, every rebound they got they were pushing it and pounding the ball down our throat,” J.J. said. “We wasn’t playing no help defense. The defense tonight was just non-existent. They got whatever they wanted.”
• The Hawks also couldn’t make shots, starting 4 of 14 from the field. Then, like happens with this team, the lack of jumpers falling (and the lack of a marquee opponent to keep them revved up) eventually led to an all-systems failure.
• “I hope that’s not the case,” L.D. said. “You are going to miss shots. But there is no excuse for giving up easy baskets the way we give up easy baskets. It starts from our starters. When they come out and play like that at the very beginning it’s hard to overcome a deficit like that.”
• The big question for the Hawks is how they will fare once the schedule toughens. But before we can even get to that, it’s already time to wonder about a team that regularly takes home beatdowns like this (Milwaukee, Boston, New Orleans and now Philadelphia, just one real contender among that group).
• That just doesn’t happen to serious teams, so it’s a major red flag for the Hawks.
• “Joe and I were talking about the same thing on the bench on the fourth quarter,” Marvin said. “You see this happen a couple times on the road, but this has happened to us a couple times at home. Obviously there are going to be nights like this but you can’t chalk it up to that. We just weren’t ready to play as a team.”
• That seven-game circus trip is right around the corner. Orlando won tonight and is still right below in the standings while Chicago is still two games ahead.
• “Especially at home, we cannot come out and play with that type energy, we cannot play with that type effort and play such a lethargic game when every game has such a a meaning to us,” L.D. said. “Here we are about to play our last game before we go out on the road for seven games. It is just totally inexcusable for us to come out with that type effort, with that type energy and play such a game that we are fighting for our lives trying to move up in the standings.

Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat