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Well, that wasn’t expected. Atlanta Hawks wing Kevin Huerter scored a playoff career-high 27 points Sunday evening against the Philadelphia 76ers. He ended up being the Hawks’ leading scorer in a shocking 103-96 Game 7 win over the 76ers in Philadelphia.
This was the backdrop as Joel Embiid and Co. came up small in a huge game once again. Embiid turned the ball over with less than a minute left, leading directly to a dunk from Hawks forward Danilo Gallinari as 76ers fans inside Wells Fargo Center looked on.
By virtue of this win, the Hawks move on to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks. It was an absolutely crazy ride for both the Hawks and 76ers in the second Game 7 in the Eastern Conference in two days. Like the Bucks’ win over the Brooklyn Nets Saturday evening, the road team came out victorious.
What’s even more shocking here is the fact that star Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young shot just 5-of-23 from the field in the win. Meanwhile, enigmatic 76ers All-Star Ben Simmons attempted all of four shots in yet another questionable performance from the former No. 1 overall pick.
As big of a win as this was for the Atlanta Hawks, it could have been a franchise-altering loss for the underperforming Sixers after they finished the regular season as the top seed in the Eastern Conference. That’s going to be a major storyline in the City of Brotherly Love during the summer. It was also among the biggest talking points on social media.