The Philadelphia 76ers returned home on Sunday with a chance to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 20 years. They had momentum on their side following their Game 6 win on the road, but they fell to the Atlanta Hawks.
This time, it was not Trae Young who gave the Sixers trouble. Kevin Huerter had 27 points and seven rebounds for Atlanta as the Sixers could not stop him. Joel Embiid led Philadelphia with 31 and 11 rebounds and Tobias Harris had 24 and 14 rebounds, but the story is Ben Simmons being passive on the offensive end once again in a big moment.
Here are the final game individual player grades as the Sixers head into the offseason:
Joel Embiid: A-
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With his team’s season on the line, Embiid was very good on the offensive end. He scored 11 of his 31 in the fourth quarter as he did his best to carry Philadelphia to this win, but it was not enough. He committed eight turnovers, though, including a critical one late that sealed their loss.
Tobias Harris: B
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Harris was aggressive, which is good for Philadelphia on offense and he did finish with 24 and 14, but he missed a lot of bunnies. He shot 8-for-24. If he had been able to convert more of his easy looks, the Sixers would have been in a better position. It’s a tough ending to what really was a very good season for him, and he probably should have been an All-Star.
Seth Curry: B
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Curry scored 16 points and he knocked down three of his five 3s, but he committed five fouls as he had a tough time on defense. Huerter scored a lot of his points against Curry for Atlanta.
Ben Simmons: D-
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Simmons was a big reason Young shot 5-for-23 from the floor, so that saves him from a failing grade, but the lasting image for him in this series is going to be him passing up a wide-open dunk in a critical moment late. He finished with five points on four shots. That cannot happen from an All-Star.
Furkan Korkmaz: D
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Korkmaz had a tough series after being thrust into the starting lineup in the wake of Danny Green’s injury. Korkmaz shot 2-for-6 and he was 1-for-5 from deep in Game 7 while struggling against Huerter on the other end.
Matisse Thybulle: C-
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Thybulle had eight points and he knocked down a 3, which he can build on, but he committed bad fouls. The biggest was the one he committed against Huerter while he was shooting a 3, which basically was the final nail in the coffin for the Sixers.
George Hill: D-
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Hill had a really tough series with the Hawks after a good start in the first round. He scored three points in 21 minutes off the bench. He was a minus-15 as coach Doc Rivers relied on him too much in this one.
Tyrese Maxey: D+
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Maxey looked like a rookie. He finished with two points, but he also had two bad turnovers that really hurt the Sixers. This is a good experience for him, though, and he can use it to build on.
Dwight Howard: D-
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As mentioned before, Howard aged rapidly in this series. He looked pretty old against the young big men of the Hawks, and on Sunday, he missed both of his shots and grabbed three rebounds with a block.
Shake Milton: C-
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Milton was thrown into the game late and he played 5:21, but there was not much he could do considering he was out of rhythm. He had two points and committed three fouls.
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