Thanks to a massive comeback, the Atlanta Hawks celebrated an away win that was no longer considered possible and are now 3-2 in the series against top-seed Philadelphia 76ers. After a 26-point lead, the Sixers lost 106: 109.
Outstanding was Trae Young, who scored 39 points (10/23 FG, 17/19 FT, 7 assists) and was partly responsible for the fact that the guests were able to turn a 26-point deficit into a victory. But the leader of the comeback was Lou Williams (15, 7/11 FG, 3 assists), who ran hot at the beginning of the fourth quarter and breathed life back into the Hawks.
A strong performance was also made by John Collins (19, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks), who, along with Young, was one of the few reliable options, especially at half-time. Philadelphia had only two players in Joel Embiid (37, 12/20 FG, 13 rebounds, 4 blocks) and Seth Curry (36, 7/12 threesomes) who could score double-digit points. Ben Simmons (8, 2/4 FG, 4/14 FT, 9 assists) was again a problem with his poor idea of the free-throw line.
Embiid was questionable before the game with his knee problems, but then got off to a good start. After five minutes the center had more successful field goals than in game 4 (5: 4), attacked the basket and also cleared Clint Capela nastily on the other side. The Hawks got no access, Young at least countered offensively. Atlanta just got no stops, everything went through Embiid for the hosts, the 17 counters for a 38:24 lead after twelve minutes.
Sixers led by up to 26 points
Without Embiid, however, the Sixers remained almost four minutes without points, the bank lineup with Harris fabricated terrible possessions. However, the guests failed to make better use of this weak phase and only caught up 3 points. The picture changed again with the starters, with a triple from Curry, the lead increased to over 20 points.
The Hawks now deliberately fouled Simmons, but that hardly worked either, because the Sixers collected the offensive rebounds. Frustration spread, Capela cashed in after a slight blow (and a massive embiid flop) a technical foul, Huerter committed a completely unnecessary clear path foul with a jersey pluck against Simmons. Embiid could not be stopped, the Hawks were still well served with a 40:62 deficit at the break.
There was no improvement at first, Huerter and Bogdanovic each picked up the fourth foul. The Sixers now lost too many balls (8 in the section) and had less movement in the game. Only Curry (14 points in the quarter) and Embiid were able to create, the rest of the Sixers got just 4 points. And so the lead melted slightly before the final section – nothing was decided before the final section (87:69).
Lou Williams initiates the Hawks’ mega comeback
And the Hawks continued their run, after a jumper from Williams, the guests had scored 12 of the last 14 points and especially Dwight Howard exposed again and again. Sixers coach Rivers responded and quickly brought Embiid back after the Hawks hit the first 8 points in the fourth quarter.
Williams stayed hot for Atlanta, but for the interplay between Embiid and Curry, the guests did not find an answer until the middle of the section. And yet it got even more exciting, Embiid tried too hard to impose the sixth foul on Capela, Simmons was deliberately sent to the line. Two minutes before the end there were suddenly only 2 points after a Young Floater, a little later the Hawks star pulled the three-point game against Matisse Thybulle and got the first guest lead of the game!
Gallinari raised from the post, Curry could not equalize, but Philadelphia got another chance after a Young miss. Embiid fouled 10 seconds before the end but missed both free throws. After that, Atlanta was able to keep up with the times and can now make the perfect entry into the Conference Finals in the State Farm Arena at home on Saturday night.
The most important statistics
Philadelphia 76ers (1) – Atlanta Hawks (5) 106:109 (BOXSCORE), Serie: 2-3
- 0/12 FG – that was Embiid’s haul in the terrible second half of Game 4 in Atlanta. In the first quarter of this game, however, there were already eight transformed throws – with eight attempts. Accordingly, the Sixers offense was buzzing at full speed, the hosts hit 80 percent from the field and only lost the ball 3 times. This resulted in an offensive rating of 158.3.
- 3 assists – that was the yield of the Hawks in half time one. Atlanta succeeded almost nothing, the majority of the offense consisted of individual actions by Young, Collins and Gallinari. The shooters were completely cold (3/12 threesome), especially Huerter and Bogdan Bogdanovic, who had already collected 3 fouls to make matters worse.
- Hack-a-Ben remains an issue. Before the game, Simmons had hit 36 percent off the line in the playoffs, and this game made the odds even worse. It was somewhat reminiscent of the times of Markelle Fultz, when Philly fans frenetically cheered one of the few hits. Incidentally, the worst free throw rate in a postseason belongs to Ben Wallace, who only scored 27 percent for the Pistons in 2006. In any case, it led to Rivers actually taking Simmons off the field in the closing stages.
- But otherwise things didn’t go well for Simmons either. The Australian tried just four field goals, but not only he was completely harmless. After the break, no Sixer hit a litter that was not named Embiid or Curry (0/11 FG). The Sixers also stayed the last 6:25 minutes without a single hit from the field.
Sixers vs. Hawks: The voices of the game
Doc Rivers (Head Coach Sixers): “We’ll be coming back to Philadelphia for Game 7, I believe in it. We had bad phases and made it difficult for ourselves. Now it’s up to us to pull ourselves together and be ready for Game 6.”
Ben Simmons (Sixers) on his free throws: “I think it’s a mental problem.”
Trae Young (Hawks): “We don’t have an all-star, an all-defense player, or an all-NBA player, but we all feel we have to prove ourselves.”
The star of the game: Lou Williams
Trae Young was of course the driving force of the guests over 48 minutes, but the comeback was only made possible by Williams, who with the bench in the fourth quarter brought the Hawks back into the position to believe in victory. Sweet Lou scored 13 of his 15 points in the final section and once again proved that he is still one of the best microwaves in the NBA even in old age.
The flop of the game: All sixers minus Embiid and Curry
This duo scored 38 of 44 points after the break, nothing came of the rest. Dwight Howard deserves a mention here, the Hawks kept attacking him when he was on the field. Further total failures: Tobias Harris (4, 2/11 FG) and Shake Milton (5, 1/5 FG).
The scene of the game
It hasn’t been a formidable game for Trae Young in a long time, but the Hawks playmaker kept having his moments. Among other things, in quarter number two when he was under high pressure threw this no-look pass over his head to Kevin Huerter, who was posted behind him. Typical of the first half, however: The Hawks’ shooting guard put the completely free attempt on the ring.
Sixers vs. Hawks: The series at a glance – Status: 2-3
| game | date | Time | Home | Away | Result |
| 1 | 6. June | 19 o’clock | Sixers | Hawks | 124:128 |
| 2 | 9. June | 1:30 | Sixers | Hawks | 118:102 |
| 3 | 12. June | 1:30 | Hawks | Sixers | 111:127 |
| 4 | 15. June | 1:30 | Hawks | Sixers | 103:100 |
| 5 | 17. June | 1:30 | Sixers | Hawks | 106:109 |
| 6 | 19. June | 1:30 | Hawks | Sixers | |
| 7* | 21. June | tba | Sixers | Hawks |
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