Hawks fight back to tie series as Sixers let lead slip away
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ATLANTA — The Atlanta Hawks turned this back into a series.
The Hawks defeated the 76ers, 103-100, Monday night at State Farm Arena in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. Atlanta tied the series at two games apiece. Game 5 of the best-of-seven series is 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Sixers blew a golden opportunity to put the Hawks on their heels by taking a commanding 3-1 lead. But they knew the Hawks wouldn’t lie down and that this tough series matchup, one that was expected to go at least six games.
The problem is Philly blew a commanding 18-point, second-quarter lead. Then with the Sixers down one point, Joel Embiid missed a layup underneath the basket with 8.8 seconds left. And the Hawks escaped with the victory after Seth Curry missed a potential game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer.
Embiid had 17 points and a game-high 21 rebounds. However, he made just 4 of 20 shots. Tobias Harris had a team-high 20 points for the Sixers, with 14 coming in the first half. He got only five shots after intermission, missing three. Curry added 17 points while making 3 of 6 threes and Ben Simmons had 11 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists in the loss.
Meanwhile, Trae Young paced the Hawks with 25 points and a game-high 18 assists.
Embiid hit a pair of foul shots to give the Sixers a 95-94 lead with 3:23 remaining. Then Furkan Korkmaz drained a three-pointer on the next possession to put Philly up four points. But John Collins’ corner three-pointer pulled the Hawks within one point before Atlanta regained the lead on Young’s floater with 1:17 left.
Young extended the Hawks’ lead to 101-98 after making a pair of foul shots with 49.6 seconds remaining.
Embiid closed the gap to one point (101-100) after hitting two free throws nine seconds later. On the ensuing possession, the Hawks turned the ball over under the basket as Collins’ pass to Clint Capela in the paint bounced off the center and out of bounds.
But Embiid missed his one-footer following a timeout.. The Hawks were awarded the possession as the ball went out of bounds.
Atlanta tried to run out the clock, but Matisse Thybulle intentionally fouled Young. The standout made a pair of foul shots to give Atlanta a 103-100 lead with 6.6 seconds left before Curry misfired on his three-pointer.
Korkmaz started in place of small forward Danny Green, who suffered a Grade 2 right calf strain early in Game 3. This marked his first career start in 18 playoff appearances.
Before the game, Hawks coach Nate McMillan talked about coming out with a sense of urgency and getting off to a better start. That was a must for a Hawks squad that had been outscored by 48 points in the previous 10 quarters heading into Monday night’s game.
“We pretty much know where we are and what we have to do,” McMillan said. “I don’t think that it’s much that we have to say, going into this game. We’ve been talking about this for the last two days.”
Atlanta had also struggled mightily from the three-point line in the Games 2 and 3. Making three-pointers are the their best opportunity to get back into the series.
So it wasn’t surprising that the Hawks inserted sharpshooting reserve Kevin Huerter in the starting lineup.
McMillan was asked during pregame if this was a must-win game for the Hawks.
“It’s not a must-win,” he said. “It’s a need to win. A must-win is you go home tomorrow. We definitely need to win this game. That’s where we are.
“We are not in a must-win. It doesn’t end if we drop this game tonight. It will make it even tougher, but it’s not a must-win situation right now. We need to win this game.”
The teams combined to shoot 3-for-17 in the first 2 minutes, 28 seconds. Sixers coach Doc Rivers called a timeout at the point when Bogdan Bogdanovic hit a three-pointer to put the Hawks up, 5-2.
The Sixers, however, eventually settled down and starting marking shots and led 28-20 after one quarter. They ended up shooting 46.2% in the quarter, while the Hawks struggled through 25% shooting.
Simmons was very active in the first quarter.
The point guard finished with 4 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists in 10:38 of action. He scored the Sixers’ first points of the game on a dunk. His other basket also came on a dunk. But for the most part, the three-time All-Star and two-time first-team all-defensive selection grabbed rebounds and set up teammates.
Curry, Simmons’ backcourt mate, led the Sixers with eight points in the quarter. Embiid had an off-shooting quarter with two points on 0-for-4 shooting. But he finished with nine rebounds. Harris had six points on 3-for-5 shooting.
Even though the Sixers missed some early shots, they put on a three-point shooting clinic in the first half.
They made 7 of 11 three-pointers (63.6%) en route to taking a 62-49 lead at intermission. Curry made 3 of 5 three-pointers en route to scoring 13 points. Harris, the team’s highest scorer with 14 points, made both of his three-point attempts.
Embiid and Maxey both made their lone attempts, while Matisse Thybulle went 0-for-2.
However, they made just 2 of 10 threes and 8 of 21 shots overall while being outscored 31-20 in the third quarter.
The Hawks eventually battled back from an 18-point deficit to take an 83-82 lead with 11:45 to play.
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