HAWKS FLY INTO EASTERN FINALS
Trae Young ripped off his jersey and bounded up the steps to toss his dad the souvenir from the first Game 7 road victory in Hawks history.
Hawks 103, 76ers 96
Young’s going to need a new uniform. He shook off a cold shooting night and improbably helped Atlanta become road warriors one more time, and now the Hawks are taking their stunning turnaround to the Eastern Conference finals.
“We did it in a big way,” Young said.
Young made a late 3-pointer and scored 21 points to help Atlanta win for the third time in the series in Philadelphia, a 103-96 victory over the top-seeded 76ers on Sunday night in Game 7.
The Hawks will open their first East finals since 2015 against the Bucks on Wednesday night in Milwaukee.
“I felt like they were built for this moment tonight to win this game,” coach Nate McMillan said.
Atlanta had been 0-9 in Games 7s on the road.
But the Hawks ignored their ignominious history and got one in Philly, where they already won in Game 1 and Game 5 and knocked out Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and closed the book on the debated rebuilding plan known as the Process.
“We gave them life from Game 1,” 76ers forward Tobias Harris said. “It’s a young, hungry team.”
Not so deep down, not even the Hawks could have seen this coming, especially in March when they were 14-20, 11th in the Eastern Conference and fired coach Lloyd Pierce.
Under McMillan, the Hawks turned into birds of prey and Young led a charge into the postseason for
the first time since 2017 that kept rolling with a first-round win over New York.
Embiid, the NBA MVP runnerup, Simmons and a high-priced cast of stars were supposed to put the upstart Hawks in their place. It never happened.
Young shook off an otherwise off night from the floor — 5 for 23 — and kept shooting until he hit that 3 for a 93-87 lead with 2:31 left.
Kevin Huerter, who had 27 points, sealed the win with three free throws.
Sixers fans let the home team have it and booed them off the court and were reprimanded by the public address announcer for throwing trash on the court.
Embiid had 31 points, 11 rebounds
and eight turnovers.
This marked only the second year since 1973 — when the NBA began seeding for the playoffs by conference — when neither No. 1 seed will make the conference finals. West No. 1 seed Utah was eliminated by the Clippers.
Notable
Embiid was fined $35,000 by the NBA for escalating an on-court altercation in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Atlanta. Embiid fell on top of John Collins in Game 6. Collins then shoved Embiid before both rose to their feet. Embiid had his arms stretched out wide with Collins’ hands around his neck as both walked off the court.