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Apparently, the heavy casing on Trae Young’s shoulder succeeded.
After a 0-for-5 start of the field, the coaches twisted his right shoulder by the coaches at the end of the first quarter. His backcourt teammate Bogdan Bogdanovic limped over the sidelines shortly after. The Philadelphia 76ers extended their first-half lead to 18 points, and the Hawks looked cooked – sure to lose their second in a row at home and go up 3-1 in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
But a second-half boom ignited by Hawks striker John Collins and ended with Young’s attacking brilliance saved the 103-100 win and their season, and their series tied in the second round with the first-seeded Eastern, 2-2.
Match 5 is scheduled for Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT.
Young scored or assisted in Atlanta’s last 15 points, including four consecutive free throws, to take the win. He found his way to 25 points in an 8-for-26 shot and made 18 assists against just two turns. All five Hawks starters hit double digits. Bogdan Bogdanovic added 22 points, Collins (14 points, 12 rebounds) and Clint Capella (12 points, 13 rebounds) doubled in the victory.
After falling behind at 98-94 with 2:44 left, Young drew the Sixers defense and found Collins for three pointers in the corner. Young then scored four consecutive goals on both sides of the one-minute mark — two on a float above Philadelphia’s home defense and a pair of free throws on a late whistle against Sixers star Joel Embiid — giving the Hawks a 101-98 advantage with 49.6 seconds on the clock.
Embiid’s two free throws made it a one-point match, and the Atlanta 24-second breach gave the Sixers a chance to win. Rolling Embiid couldn’t get a layup, and Ben Simmons failed to secure his chance on an offensive rebound. Young hit the free throws to push the lead to 103-100 with 16.6 seconds left, and Seth Curry’s 3-point attempt got the bell only on the back of the edge.
The story continues
“We stopped passing,” 76ers coach Doc Rivers told reporters after losing their fourth game. “I thought we started the game this way, then back to the ball movement, and then back to champion basketball. Basically, everyone wanted to be the champion instead of just trusting the team, trusting each other. When you do that, you usually lose, especially when The other team is causing you stress for the whole game.”
The Philadelphia Atlanta defense thwarted early on. Only Bogdan Bogdanovic managed to score in the first quarter against the five-man Sixers who was below Danny Green (calf), scoring 10 points in a 4-for-1 shot. The other Hawks collected 10 points in the 3-for-21 shootout in the frame. Philadelphia raised the stopping points in easy buckets on the other end, finishing the opening quarter in the 20-8 round during the final seven minutes.
Hawks star Trae Young fights every inch against the Sixers’ defense. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
The Sixers used 17-3 again midway through the second quarter, pushing their lead to 55-38. By the end of the first half, Joel Embiid had a double, snatching the doubles, Tobias Harris was halfway to 30 points, and Ben Simmons was watching a triple-double. Philadelphia seemed to be in complete control of the series.
Then it all turned around.
Whether it was a partially torn meniscus that cost him a first-round match or an apparent back problem that left him on the sidelines before falling back into the locker room between quarters, Embiid is no longer the dominant force he experienced during the first round. Three games of the series. The MVP runner-up finished 0 for 12 off the field in the second half, scoring on only four free throws in the last four minutes.
Harris scored just six of his team’s top 20 points after the first half. Simmons finished with 11 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists, which he collected almost all in the first half. Embiid scored 17 points in a 4-for-20 shot and added 21 rebounds. Curry also scored 13 of his 17 points in the first two quarters.
The Hawks got a boost in the third quarter from the Collins, whose three sinkings after halftime brought the Atlanta crowd into the game. His teammates followed suit, trimming their 13-point lead to two at the end of the quarter, giving Bogdan Bogdanovic 3-pointers as the Fourth Hawks started their first lead from the first seven minutes.
“We felt energized tonight,” Capella said after the win. “It was contagious.”
Sixers reserve Shake Milton delivered a jolt, as he did in Game 2, scoring eight consecutive goals to regain a 92-88 lead with nine minutes remaining, but the Hawks didn’t stop competing. Young and Bogdanovic’s Layups started a 6-0 run that capped Capela in an evil alley, ending the season.
It didn’t take Young long to immobilize the match and likely his shoulder afterwards.
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Ben Rohrbach is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Do you have a tip? Email him to [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
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