The Atlanta Hawks will try to keep their playoff push going forward when they host the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday in the first meeting this season between the two Eastern Conference teams.
Atlanta has won three of its last four games overall and swept both contests of a mini-series against Indiana, holding off the Pacers 120-118 on Saturday.
It will be a quick turnaround for the Sixers, who defeated the Utah Jazz 126-122 on Sunday. The win ended a three-game losing streak, but Philadelphia has dropped 12 of its last 14 games.
In an unusual bit of scheduling, this will be the first meeting between the two clubs. They play two more times over the final six weeks of the regular season, in Atlanta on March 23 and in Philadelphia on April 11. The teams split four contests last year and the Hawks have won the last two games.
The Hawks are currently the No. 7 team in the East and are almost assured of a spot in the play-in tournament. Atlanta holds a one-half game lead over No. 8 Orlando and No. 9 Miami. Atlanta trails No. 6 Detroit by 5 1/2 games.
Philadelphia is 3 1/2 games behind Chicago for the 10th and final spot to get into the play-in tournament.
Atlanta has received strong play lately from Onyeka Okongwu, who collected 16 points and 16 rebounds on Saturday.
Okongwu has scored in double figures in nine of the last 10 games and had double-digit rebounds in five of those contests. He has produced a double-double in three of the last four games and 18 for the season.
“I think the best player we had (Saturday) in the clutch was Onyeka,” Atlanta coach Quin Snyder said. “He got every rebound. He made every play. And sometimes those plays aren’t as noticeable and someone who makes a bucket.”
Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels had five more steals — his 12th time to reach that number this season — on Saturday, giving him 178. That is the most of any player since Ricky Rubio had 191 in the 2013-14 season. Daniels leads the NBA with 3.0 steals per game.
Trae Young continues to show his grit. He was knocked down after a knee to the thigh during the third quarter Saturday and stayed on the court for several minutes before being taken to the locker room. He came back in the fourth quarter and finished the game, scoring 36 points.
Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse said Sunday that he will be monitoring the minutes of Guerschon Yabusele, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Quentin Grimes. They have played extended minutes because of season-ending injuries to Joel Embiid, Jared McCain and Eric Gordon and recent injuries to Paul George and Tyrese Maxey.
“I think we’ve pushed some guys pretty far here in the last two or three weeks,” Nurse said. “A lot of injuries and I think we’ve got to be a little bit more mindful of that and try to survive some minutes and let some of the other guys play as maybe their own second unit and see how they hang in there.”
Atlanta upgraded the status of backup Vit Krejci (lumbar fracture) to questionable.
