Sixers Collapse Once Again in Game 5 vs. Atlanta Hawks
After falling apart in the second half of Monday's Game 4 matchup on the road, the Philadelphia 76ers looked to bounce back on Wednesday night. Being back in front of their home crowd after spending the last two games on the road, the Sixers were in a prime position to get a one-game lead on the Hawks before hitting the road again.
From the jump, everything went right for the Sixers. As they played loose and found a solid rhythm on offense, the Sixers dominated the Hawks 38-24 in the first quarter. Joel Embiid, who was coming off of one of the worst second-half performances of his career, shot a perfect 8-8 from the field for 17 points.
After Philly rode the hot hand in the first quarter, the Sixers started scoring from everywhere and locked down the Hawks on defense as they outscored Atlanta 24-16 in the second quarter. Heading into halftime, the Sixers led the Hawks 62-40.
Similar to Monday's Game 4 matchup, it seemed the 76ers were just 24 minutes away from collecting another victory in the series. But once again, a young and scrappy Hawks team saw a weakness in a Sixers team that thought they could simply coast to a third victory.
While the third quarter was a back and forth battle between Seth Curry and Trae Young, everything totally came together for the Hawks in the final quarter of the outing. Atlanta veteran sharpshooter Lou Williams spent almost the entire fourth quarter on the court and hit on six of his eight shots for 13 points.
Meanwhile, the Sixers got some life from Seth Curry, who collected 11 fourth-quarter points of his own, but nobody else could get it going. Joel Embiid's red-hot start cooled off quickly as he drained one of his five shots from the field in the final 10 minutes. Ben Simmons, the only other player to score points in the fourth quarter aside from Curry and Embiid, has just two points off of four free throws.
Once holding a lead as much as 26 points, the Sixers completely fell apart and lost it once again. As the Hawks outscored Philly 69-44 in the final two quarters, they managed to defeat the Sixers at the Wells Fargo Center for the second time this series 109-106.
Following Wednesday night's loss, the Sixers now head back to Atlanta for Game 6. Although they managed to defeat the Hawks at the State Farm Arena last Friday, a young Hawks team completely shifted the momentum of the series in their favor at this point. Now, the 76ers entered a win or go home situation as they're down 2-3 going into Game 6.