Hawks upset top seeded Sixers, advance to East finals

Clint Capela of the Atlanta Hawks dunks over Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers during the third quarter of Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at Wells Fargo Center on June 20, 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. | Photo by Tim Nwachukwu / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

Los Angeles—Kevin Huerter scored a playoff career-high 27 points as the upstart Atlanta Hawks punched their ticket to their first Eastern Conference finals in six years on Sunday, (Monday, June 21, 2021, Philippine time) with a 103-96 game seven win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

All-star Trae Young finished with 21 points and 10 assists, John Collins had 14 points and 16 rebounds and Danilo Gallinari came off the bench to score 17 points for the Hawks, who won three games in Philadelphia to take the series 4-3.

“Winning game seven is a treat for us,” said Huerter. “We are a little naive. We always believe we can win.”

The Hawks will now face the Milwaukee Bucks in game one of their series on Wednesday as both NBA semi-finals are now set. The Phoenix Suns have a 1-0 lead over the Los Angeles Clippers in the Western Conference final.

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The Hawks had surprised by dispatching the New York Knicks in five games in the opening round.

They needed a balanced offense in Sunday’s winner-take-all contest, and 22-year-old Huerter needed to shoot well because of all the injuries in their lineup — they were without De’Andre Hunter, who had a right knee injury.

After the game Young slipped off his jersey and went up into the stands at Wells Fargo Arena to hand it to his father for Father’s Day.

“A winning jersey. I wanted to win it for my dad,” he said.

Joel Embiid scored a game-high 31 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Sixers.

But he also committed eight turnovers, including a key wobble with 41 seconds left in the fourth.

Tobias Harris added 24 points and 14 rebounds, Seth Curry had 16 points and Ben Simmons contributed 13 assists in the loss.

Game seven was a see-saw contest with 20 lead changes and 19 ties but the turning point came in the final minute of the fourth.

Embiid’s turnover was preceded by a costly foul by reserve guard Matisse Thybulle which sent Huerter to the foul line for three shots. Huerter made all three to boost the lead to 96-92 and the Hawks held on from there.

“We felt like this was going to be our year. It sucks. There is a lot to regret,” Embiid said.