It’s hard to overstate the collapse taking place in Philadelphia right now. The Atlanta Hawks had never come back from an 18-point deficit in any playoff game in franchise history. Now they’ve done it in two straight games. Game 5 was particularly awful for Philadelphia, as Joel Embiid and Seth Curry were the only two players to make a basket in the second half. The Hawks went with the “Hack-a-Simmons” approach, fouling Ben Simmons each time the Sixers came down the floor, because Simmons can’t make free throws. In the other Eastern Conference semifinal, the Milwaukee Bucks got an epic performance out of Khris Middleton to force a Game 7.
As we look to the NBA betting weekend, let’s look at these two contests.
NBA News: Eastern Conference Games (June 18-19)
Friday, June 18
Philadelphia 76ers at Atlanta Hawks
Game 6 (7:30 pm ET, ESPN) | Hawks lead, 3-2
Late in the third quarter of Game 5, the Philadelphia 76ers had a 99.7 percent chance of winning the game, according to InPredict. However, it was the last 6:25 of the game that really galled Philadelphia fans (who threw debris on the floor after the loss). At that point, Philadelphia led by 14. They still had a six-point lead with three minutes left. From 4:23 remaining until Seth Curry’s jumper with 0.01 seconds, Philadelphia scored exactly two points. Atlanta’s Trae Young scored nine all by himself. Over the last five minutes of the game, Philadelphia went 1 of 7 from the floor (the 1 being Curry’s jumper). Simmons and Embiid combined to clank four free throws in the last four minutes of the game.
Atlanta center Clint Capela pointed out, after the Hawks also came back from a huge deficit to win Game 4, that the key to stopping Embiid is wearing him out. He has dominated the first three quarters of Games 4 and 5, but then he has shown fatigue (or the pain from his knee has become too debilitating). At that point, the 76ers don’t have another direction to go on offense, because Simmons can’t shoot, and if he brings the ball up, the Hawks just have to foul him, and he’ll clank one or both free throws. Will Doc Rivers make adjustments? He is only 11-6 all time in postseason games in which his team has led by as many as 18 points, which shows that he has failed to make adjustments in these situations before. It’s hard to see the Sixers not responding…but I said the same thing for Game 5.
Final Prediction:
76ers 116, Hawks 111
Saturday, June 19
Milwaukee Bucks at Brooklyn Nets
Game 7 (8:30 pm ET, TNT) | Series tied, 3-3
It looked like Milwaukee might take command of this series after coming back from an 0-2 hole, once Kyrie Irving went down with an ankle sprain. However, KD went off for 49 points in an historic triple-double performance, and the Nets won Game 5. Milwaukee responded with a 104-89 win in Game 6, thanks to 38 points out of Khris Middleton. KD “only” had 32 points int he setback.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is the Bucks’ leading scorer, putting up 28.1 points and pulling down 11.0 rebounds per game. Middleton adds 23.3 points and 7.8 boards per game, and he has made 48.0% of his shots during the last ten games. KD leads Brooklyn with 26.9 points per game, and he is averaging 7.1 boards and 5.6 assists. James Harden is putting up 13.9 points per game, including 16 in Game 6 despite his ongoing hamstring issues, along with six assists per contest.
Brooklyn could get Irving back for Game 7, but for now he is listed as out. Spencer Dinwiddie (knee) is the only other Net on the shelf. Milwaukee is missing Jordan Nwora (thigh) and Donte DiVincenzo (foot). The Bucks are one-point favorites on the road, and if Irving is still out and Harde is still gimpy, this is really Milwaukee’s game to lose. The biggest change for Milwaukee in Game 6 was the wise approach that Antetokounmpo took when he had the ball. He had been taking (and clanking) too many threes, and he’s not an elite shooter. He dominates when he crashes the rim, and he did that over and over again in Game 6. Can the Bucks win their first Game 7 since 2001?
Final Prediction:
Bucks 110, Nets 108
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