Sixers vs. Atlanta Hawks takeaways: Statement victory, Jaden Springer’s emergence, Mac McClung’s nerves

The 76ers are either deeper than we thought or the Atlanta Hawks have major problems.

Jaden Springer is starting to put people on notice. And Mac McClung needs to settled down a little bit.

Those three things stood out in the Sixers’ 136-131 overtime victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday at State Farm Arena.

The Sixers (53-28) had no business beating the Hawks (41-40) without their entire starting lineup in Tobias Harris, P.J. Tucker, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, James Harden, and sixth man De’Anthony Melton.

The Hawks had two-time All-Star point guard Trae Young, one-time All-Star guard Dejounte Murray, and standout power forward John Collins going up against reserves, who had been outplayed in recent games.

But one wouldn’t have known that on this night.

“This is an important game for our role players to kind of come out and prove that they’re good basketball players and start feeling good,” said coach Doc Rivers. “Going into the playoffs, a win like this when you have your top [six] guys out is huge for you. Nothing with Atlanta. It was more about us.

“I thought good performance number one. But let’s try and win the game.”

Rivers raved over Springer’s play after the game. And that was understandable.

In his first career start, the second-year guard finished with a career-high 19 points along with three assists, one steal, and a block before fouling out in the overtime. He did a solid job of guarding Young even though he had 27 points and 20 assists to go with his nine turnovers.

“[Springer] was great,” Rivers said. “He was great defensively. He stayed within his role. He ran a play down the stretch. … I’m really proud of him.”

The coach loved that Springer pulled up to the three-point line with confidence. That’s because the coach feels that’s his next step to becoming a great player.

“Defensively, and I’m going to keep saying it: He’s an NBA defender,” Rivers said. “He makes plays. He rebounds the ball. He does a lot of little things.”

» READ MORE: Mac McClung, Jaden Springer lead Delaware Blue Coats to the G League championship

Springer had a late steal on Young that was huge and so were his offensive rebounds. It was like he was a magnet to the ball. Wherever the ball was at, Springer was at.

His performance came one day after Springer led the Delaware Blue Coats for the G League championship. He was named the G League Final MVP.

“I just want to show them I can go out there and compete,” Springer said. “Help the team win whatever way they need to. That has always been my mindset.”

However, his last 24 hours were a whirlwind.

The Blue Coats clinched the G League championship in Texas at around 11 p.m. Central Time. He got back to the hotel around midnight.

“I had to be up at 4:50 a.m., head to the airport,” he said. “I got on the plane, a couple flights. I got here around 11:30 [a.m.], 12 p.m, took a nap and got [here for pregame] around five and got ready for this game.”

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Springer definitely took advantage of the rare opportunity to play.

This marked just his 14th appearance of the season.

And now, people are starting to take notice.

It started with him being named the G League steals champion. Then his popularity grew after he was named the G League Finals’ MVP. And Friday’s performance only added to it.

“I know I feel like I can play out there on the court with the guys,” he said. “But I understand where the team is right now. They’re trying to win a championship. I understand that, so I just have been trying to stay level headed and try to take advantage of every opportunity I get.”

Rivers mentioned that McClung had a good stretch during the game. The coach is right. The two-way player hit a big three and later made a pair of foul shots in the third quarter. But that came after he struggled during first-half action. He looked a little nervous during that stretch.

“He tries to do too much with the ball,” Rivers said. “It’s probably nerves. They played last night [in the G League championship]. But he’s got great athleticism and he can shoot the ball, so that helps.”

Best performance: This goes to Georges Niang. The Sixers forward finished with 24 points while making 5 of 7 three-pointers. Twenty-one of his point came on 8-for-8 shooting - including going 4 of 4 on three-pointers - in the third quarter through overtime.

Worst performance: This was a tough one, but I had to give it to Furkan Korkmaz. The Sixers guard missed five of six shots.

Best defensive : This goes to Jalen McDaniels. The Sixers forward had three steals and one block to go with a co-team-high 24 points.

Worst statistic: This goes to Trae Young’s nine turnovers.

Best statistic: This goes the Young’s 20 assists.

Best of the best: This victory was a major confidence boost for the Sixers.