ATLANTA — The Philadelphia 76ers had their chances late on the road on Sunday night before they fell to the Atlanta Hawks 120-117. The Sixers had a few opportunities down the stretch with the game on the line, but ultimately came up short in what was a tough loss with Philadelphia falling to 14-11 on the season and 0-2 against the Hawks.

Paul George had 35 points for Philadelphia while Joel Embiid had 22 points, 14 rebounds, and two blocks, and VJ Edgecombe had 26 points and six rebounds. Quentin Grimes added 14 points and seven assists, Dominick Barlow had 11 points and seven rebounds.

Here are the three biggest takeaways after the loss to the Hawks:

A wild possession late

Before the Sixers went for the tie on the final possession, they had a chance down 118-117 with 1:03 left after Grimes knocked down a big 3. After Atlanta’s Onyeka Okongwu missed a shot inside, the Sixers had a chance there with 43.8 ticks left after Embiid grabbed the rebound. The Sixers then had something of a helter-skelter possession with George missing a 3-pointer before Edgecombe grabbed the rebound leading to the ball ending up in Embiid’s hands on the perimeter. He passed an open 3 from the wing and found Grimes for an open 3 which he then missed. The Hawks then grabbed the rebound and one has to wonder if coach Nick Nurse should have called a timeout to set something up.

“Listen, it’s always one of those, I think, when we (get) a stop, we want to get up the floor and hit them before the defense is set, for sure,” Nurse said. “That settles down a little bit. There’s some chances to take a timeout. When you don’t and don’t score, you always want to go back and do it, maybe. But I was pretty happy with–they were moving the ball. They had some looks. They had two cracks at it. Two guys who had just made shots, a bunch of shots down the stretch. I have to look at it again. I’m sitting here right now, (the possession) was probably OK.”

Paul George erupts

This is the version of George the Sixers were expecting to get when they signed him to a 4-year deal in the 2024 offseason. He looks healthy, he looks right, and he erupted for 35 points and he shot 7-for-9 from deep in what was an overall terrific performance for him. The Sixers will certainly take that type of work from the 9-time All-Star as he shot 11-for-21 overall while also playing some solid defense on the other end of the floor.

“I think the biggest thing for me is, obviously, the 35’s great and the seven 3s is amazing, all that stuff, but to me, I think I like the way he’s getting by people,” Nurse added. “He’s getting by people, downhill in the paint, he’s holding off post-ups, he’s getting to spots, he’s getting clearance on a lot of things. That’s probably the most encouraging. Obviously, that’s awesome that he made a bunch of shots tonight, but he just looks like he’s creating a lot of opportunities and he’s also a pretty good passer once he gets down the lane, too.”

Ups and downs of the season

The 82-game season is a grind. There are a lot of ups and downs that teams will have to go through before they really hit their stride and take steps forward. The Sixers had their chances to knock off the Hawks on Sunday, and they know it, but now is the time for them to forget about this and move forward. There were some little things that will stand out in this loss–such as those last few possessions and the no call on the backcourt–but these are learning lessons for this group. Philadelphia will have four days off now again before facing the New York Knicks on the road on Friday.

“Yeah, not for sure,” said Grimes. “I mean, these are the game that we were winning the beginning of the season. We know we’re not gonna be able to win them all. So, we got to just watch the film. Just kind of had too many lapses late in that fourth they got some 3s off. We got to come in, watch film, get better, and just keep working.”