The Philadelphia 76ers were off to a fantastic start on Saturday night at State Farm Arena. They shot 62.5% from the floor in the first half and led the Atlanta Hawks 73-66 as the Sixers got off to a great start when considering everything that was on the line in terms of the standings.

However, once again, the third quarter was an issue. The Hawks jumped out of the half on a 13-4 run on their way to outscoring the Sixers 31-21 in the third. They turned a 7-point deficit into a 3-point lead going into the fourth. Atlanta then won the fourth 28-22 and earned a 125-116 win over the Sixers.

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“I just told the guys that they competed their butts off all the way through,” coach Nick Nurse told reporters after the loss. “Again, I think the start of the second half, again, I thought we moved the ball, executed, got great shots, and just went a little bit dry on really good execution and good shots. I think one turnover, first possession, other than that, about the next six were really good, but we didn’t have much to show for it. Maybe two points or four points. I think they went on 13-4 there. They, obviously, hit a 3 and an And-1 to start the half, too. So they got kind of a quick start and we didn’t.”

The Sixers shot 42.5% from the floor in the second half which led to 54.7% shooting from the floor overall on the night. That’s still a solid number, but they had a tough time handling Hawks All-Star Jalen Johnson as it led to a loss in a time when they need to stack wins in the tight Eastern Conference playoff race.

“Then it was just kind of, you know, it was close enough, you know, to have a chance there,” Nurse added. “We had a couple mistakes that we can’t have inbounding the ball, things like that, but for the most part, when I look at the numbers here, we shoot almost 55%. I think probably look at all the numbers, they’re pretty even all the way across the board, except for, I guess, they make 20 free throws to our 12, and we got probably four of those in consolation time at the end. So, that was probably the difference.”

The Sixers will now head to Rocket Arena and take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday–another team they have had their struggles with all season.

This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Sixers address second half struggles in tough road loss to Hawks