The Atlanta Hawks came back from the dead.
Trae Young scored 25 points and doled out 18 assists, figuring into Atlanta’s final 16 points en route to a come-from-behind 103-100 victory against the Philadelphia 76ers that tied their Eastern Conference semifinals series at two games apiece.
After falling behind 98-94 with 2:44 left, Young drew the Sixers defense and found John Collins for a 3-pointer in the corner. Young then scored four straight on back-to-back possessions on either side of the one-minute mark — two on a lob over Philadelphia’s interior defense and a pair of free throws on a late whistle against Embiid — turning their deficit into a 101-98 Hawks lead with 49.6 seconds on the clock.
Two Embiid free throws made it a one-point game, and an Atlanta 24-second violation gave the Sixers a chance at the win. A rolling Embiid could not get his layup to go, and Ben Simmons failed to secure his chance at the offensive rebound. Young knocked down the free throws to push the lead back to 103-100 with 16.6 seconds to go, and a Seth Curry 3-point attempt at the buzzer only got the back of the rim.
Philadelphia’s defense stymied Atlanta early. Only Bogdan Bogdanovic could find the net in the first quarter against a Sixers starting five that was down Danny Green (calf), scoring 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting. The other Hawks combined for 10 points on 3-for-21 shooting in the frame. Philadelphia leveraged stops into easy buckets on the other end, finishing the opening quarter on a 20-8 run over the final seven minutes.
The Sixers used another 17-3 run midway through the second quarter, pushing their lead to 55-38. By halftime, Joel Embiid had his double-double, picking apart double teams, Tobias Harris was halfway to 30 points, and Ben Simmons was on triple-double watch. Philadelphia looked in full control of the series.
The Hawks got a third-quarter boost from John Collins, whose three dunks after halftime willed the Atlanta crowd back into the game, and the hometown team followed suit. Atlanta cut a 13-point deficit to two by quarter’s end, and Bogdan Bogdanovic’s 3-pointer to start the fourth gave the Hawks an 83-82 advantage.
As he did in Game 2, Shake Milton provided a jolt off the bench, scoring eight straight to give the Sixers a 92-88 lead with nine minutes remaining, but the Hawks never ceased competing. Young and Bogdanovic ignited a 6-0 run that Clint Capela capped with a thunderous dunk, setting up a wild back-and-forth finish.