After the Milwaukee Bucks blew a 17-point lead and lost to the Brooklyn Nets in Game 5 on Tuesday night’s NBA action, nobody thought that we would see another postseason collapse like that one, but the Atlanta Hawks delivered what may end up being the most important win in team history!
After trailing by as many as 26 points… yes, 26 points, the Atlanta Hawks came all the way back against the Philadelphia 76ers to steal Game 5 on the road 109-106. Atlanta outscored the 76ers 40-19 in the fourth quarter of this game and they outscored them 51-23 in the final 15 minutes or so of this game!
READ MORE: NBA Playoffs: Is this Hawks-76ers Series Atlanta’s To Lose At This Point?
According to ESPN Stats and Info, The 76ers are the only team to blow an 18-point lead in back-to-back playoff games in the last 25 seasons. They had a win probability of 95.5% at one point in Game 4, and it reached 99.7% late in the 3rd quarter of Game 5. Also, according to Elias Sports, the Hawks 26-point comeback is tied for the third-biggest comeback in the NBA playoffs in the last 25 years and Atlanta became the third team in NBA playoff history to win after trailing by 22 points or more at halftime.
What the Hawks did in Game 5 of this series was extremely improbable, but Trae Young and his team never backed down. Young finished the game with 39 points on 10-23 shooting from the floor and 17-19 shooting from the free-throw line, and he had 7 assists as well.
From Young knocking down big shots late in the fourth quarter, to John Collins fighting his way in the paint for rebounds over the likes of Embiid and Simmons, to Lou Williams finishing the game +31 off-the-bench in 23 minutes, this game was a signature win that will go down in Atlanta Hawks’ history books for years to come.
Now, a team that was picked by many prior to the start of the season to be a borderline playoff team finds themselves one win away from going to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first-time since 2015! This Hawks team just never gives up on themselves and they fight for all 48-minutes out on the court, which is why they are on the verge of knocking out the 1-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals!
A lot happened in what was one of the craziest Game 5’s every played in the NBA playoffs, so let’s dive right in and take a look at the three biggest takeaways from this game to evaluate whether or not the 76ers have a chance to still win this series.
