Sixers Bell Ringer: Game 3 - Sixers move to 3-0 with last-second win in Atlanta

For a refresher on our Bell Ringer series, take a look back at our first post of the season.

Bell Ringer Standings

Ben Simmons - 1
Tobias Harris - 1

The Sixers overcame a fiesty Hawks team and some questionable officiating to move to 3-0 on the season with a 105-103 win in Atlanta. Here are your Bell Ringer candidates:

Joel Embiid: 36 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 7 turnovers

Embiid was a true game-time decision coming into the night with a sprained ankle. Ultimately, he and the training staff decided he was good to go, a fortunate turn of events for the Sixers. Philadelphia worked the offense through the big man, who was able to finish around the rim or earn a trip to the free throw line. Embiid finished 10-of-10 on foul shots, none bigger than with 5 seconds remaining and the game tied. The Sixers worked some high-low action between Al Horford and Embiid, and John Collins was forced to hack JoJo to prevent an easy bucket. Embiid sank both game-winning shots.

Before those final moments, Embiid played solid defense, made some nice reads in the half court (with one pass shoveled between his own legs), and went 2-of-6 tfrom downtown. The one knock against him was the number of turnovers, as the Hawks sat on his spin move and Embiid forced things into a crowd a few too many times. Still, overall, it was a dominating effort from Philadelphia’s star center. This posterization of John Collins and ensuing shimmy (which somehow drew a technical) will be a replayed highlight for a long time:

Josh Richardson: 14 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks, 3 turnovers

J-Rich finally had his shot working a bit during the regular season, shooting 6-of-14 from the field and 2-of-5 from behind the arc. He didn’t exactly shut down Trae Young defensively, but Richardson certainly helped bother the second-year guard into seven turnovers and 7-of-20 shooting. Richardson getting called for a foul after catching a Young elbow to the face was one of the more egregious calls of the night.

Al Horford: 5 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 4 blocks, 1 turnover

This game was one of those where Horford takes a backseat offensively. However, the foul blocks were huge, and he was a steady presence out there for Brett Brown, who had to watch Mike Scott get ejected for what looked like a pretty typical hard foul to prevent a bucket, and see Shake Milton hyperextend his knee. It shows a lot of trust from the head coach to rely on Horford to make the right play and feed Embiid underneath on the game-deciding play.

Matisse Thybulle: 8 points, 3 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers

Thybulle can still look incredibly flustered with the ball in his hands out in transition, but he confidently step into his 3s and hit two of them (albeit on seven attempts). More to form, Matisse was an absolute agent of chaos on the defensive end. His instincts and quick hands are unparalleled; Thybulle was a terrific curve ball to throw out there on Trae Young. When Thybulle is able to create those steals and also repeatedly make the right play with the ball in the open court, it’s going to be curtains for the opposition.

Ben Simmons: 13 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 4 turnovers

Ben went quiet offensively as the game progressed, but he was enormous early on for the Sixers, scoring 9 of his 13 points in the first quarter. Without his initial aggressiveness scoring on drives and post-up situations, the Hawks’ 40 first-quarter points might have allowed them to run away with things. Plus, you can’t leave a guy off the list when he makes this sort of touch pass: