Sixers clinch fifth-best lottery odds with loss to Hawks

The Sixers’ late-season tank turned out pretty successful with the team securing the fifth-best lottery odds after a loss to the Hawks Friday.

This is what everyone expected to be clinched when the season began.

The Sixers got back in the loss column, dropping Friday night’s game 124-110 to the Atlanta Hawks.

Jared Butler led the Sixers with 25 points along with seven assists, shooting 9-of-18 from the floor. In his third straight start, Marcus Bagley went for a career-high 20 points along with 10 rebounds. Adem Bona had 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting along with three blocks, and Colin Castleton finished with 16 points and eight boards.

Trae Young led all scores with 36 points and 11 assists.

With this loss, the Sixers are locked into the fifth best lottery odds for the draft. They are 24-57.

Quentin Grimes, Justin Edwards and Alex Reese were all out, leaving eight players available for the Sixers.

Here are some grades from the Center.

Adem Bona

Not only did Bona bring his usual energy from the jump, but he was pretty aggressive in looking for his shot. He had success either getting to the basket or getting to the free throw line as he made six of his first seven shots. He’ll still make a rookie mistake here and there because he’s moving too fast, but those are fewer and farther between.

That aggression didn’t quite go away, but his teammates had a hard time getting him the ball in the second half. Despite the team slipping away he was pretty solid defensively, including two big blocks on Young.

Grade: B

Lonnie Walker IV

A big reason the Sixers have been more competitive the last week or so is Walker continuing to be an effective shotmaker off the dribble. He once again got off to solid start both at hitting threes and getting to the basket. The game changed a lot for him though when he picked up his fourth and fifth fouls a couple minutes into the second half. By the time he returned, the Sixers had begun to let go of the rope, on top of the caution he had to play with.

Grade: C

Jeff Dowtin Jr.

Unfortunately for Dowtin, he wasn’t able to carry much over from his career night as he shot just 1-of-11 from the floor. His tunnel vision makes his game look really rough when his shots aren’t falling. This was also Dowtin’s last eligible game on his two-way deal, so his season is officially over.

Grade: D

Jared Butler

Butler was a big part of the hot start as he was able to get a couple threes to go down, as well as a really nice up-and-under layup. He wasn’t nearly as steady handed with the ball, and could have had more than the four turnovers he finished with.

Even when the offense started to sputter in the second half, he was able to get to his floater on a somewhat consistent basis. He had an odd start to his Sixers’ tenure, but he closed the season out pretty strong, all things considered.

Grade: A-

Marcus Bagley

Bagley has drawn a lot of praise for the hustle and effort he’s given on a nightly basis, the shot just wouldn’t follow it. Even after making his first NBA three against the Wizards, that brought him to 1-of-21 from deep. He quadrupled that total when he caught fire in the first half. He also snagged a putback dunk, which has become a pretty common occurrence for him.

In the second half he got the offense out of a rut a bit by getting himself open on baseline cuts. He also got out to block a Georges Niang three-point attempt on the other end of the floor.

Grade: A-

One. More. To. Go. The Sixers will wrap up their season Sunday when they host the Chicago Bulls at 1 p.m. ET.