The Atlanta Hawks play host to the Philadelphia 76ers at State Farm Arena on Saturday.

The Sixers (47-25) come into this matchup winning six-straight games, as that directly correlates with Joel Embiid returning to the lineup. His presence simply can't be overlooked, as he's a walking double-double. In fact, he leads this team with 27.5 points and 13.8 rebounds per game. Those are MVP-type numbers and he'd get more consideration if it weren't for absurd seasons from James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo. What's really fascinating about this six-game spurt is the teams they've beaten, with Philly picking up victories over the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers in that stretch. That has gotten the Sixers all the way up to third in the east, as they're now 3.5 games up on the Pacers in fourth and look well on their way to homecourt advantage in the first round.

The Hawks (25-48) own a 3-3 record across their last six games, as it's been a surprisingly good season for the Atlanta faithful. What's really impressive is the growth of the youngsters, with Trae Young and John Collins taking some major leaps this season. That's a heck of a core going forward and adding another stud rookie to that group will make them a serious threat next season. The thing they need to work on is defense though, with the Hawks sitting dead-last in points allowed. That obviously won't get it done and it's on these young guys to make that a priority going forward.

This is the third of four meetings between these teams, with the road team winning the first two outings. Philly actually swept the three-game season series over Atlanta last year.