NBA Playoffs: 76ers Force Game 7, Clippers Rally To Advance

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The NBA Playoffs continued on Friday night with a pair of Game 6’s as the Hawks looked to close out the Philadelphia 76ers and the Utah Jazz tried to stave off elimination on the road against the shorthanded LA Clippers.

In case you missed it, here’s a recap of both games:

(1) Philadelphia 76ers 104, (5) Atlanta Hawks 99 – Series tied 3-3

The slate of games kicked off with the Philadephia 76ers forcing a winner take all Game 7 with a 104-99 victory over the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena.

Tobias Harris and Seth Curry led Philly with 24 points, including Curry connecting on six three-pointers. Big man Joel Embiid added 22 for the 76ers, who avoided elimination and will have a chance to clinch the series at home on Sunday night.

‘You saw the fight and grit of a whole group,” said Harris.

Meanwhile, Atlanta led by four with around two minutes remaining but just could not put the game away. Trae Young led the Hawks with a game-high 34 points but missed free throws down the stretch by Atlanta would be their undoing.

Clint Capela added 14 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.

”I don’t think we were tight,” said Hawks head coach Nate McMillan. “We just started to take quick shots. We didn’t make them work on defense.”

(1) Utah Jazz 119, (4) LA Clippers 131 – LAC wins series 4-2

The night ended with possibly the greatest comeback in NBA Playoffs history as the LA Clippers rallied from a 25-point second-half deficit to defeat the top-seeded Utah Jazz 131-119 to advance to their first Western Conference Finals in their 51-year history.

Terance Mann scored a career-high 39 points as he sparked the Clippers in the absence of Kawhi Leonard. Paul George had 28 points and Reggie Jackson chipped in 25 for Los Angeles, who will face the Phoenix Suns on Sunday.

‘The cheers, the excitement, you felt the monkey off of the Clippers back as far as getting past the second round,” said George. ”The playoffs are about grit and fighting back. Time after time we have shown that.”

Meanwhile, this series loss will sting for Utah, who led 2-0 and ended up losing four consecutive games after having the NBA’s best record this season. Donovan Mitchell led the Jazz with 39 points.

Royce O’Neale added 21 while Jordan Clarkson chipped in 21 points off the bench.

”I think our inefficiency early on in the third quarter turning the ball over, that led to a lot of baskets. And obviously, in the half-court they spaced us and moved it and had us on our heels,” Utah head coach Quin Snyder said.

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