The Atlanta Hawks (34-29) take on the Philadelphia 76ers (41-21) again Friday evening after a loss on Wednesday, and may again be short-handed this time around.
The Sixers blew out the understaffed Hawks on Wednesday, as it became apparent early on that Atlanta didn’t have enough to compete with a healthy 76ers group.
Atlanta sits just one game ahead of the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics for the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference, but does hold the tiebreaker with both clubs. Staying ahead of at least one of those teams seems crucial to avoiding the play-in at this point.