The Philadelphia 76ers wasted a golden opportunity on Monday night when they blew an 18-point lead and fell to the Atlanta Hawks on the road. The series had a chance to be 3-1 in favor of Philadelphia heading back to the City of Brotherly Love, but instead, it’s a 2-2 series.
The Sixers just had a tough time after halftime in terms of not moving the ball and they were not able to respond to the Hawks when they got hit in the mouth. It is one of those games that showed off warts that the Sixers had in the past when it comes to big playoff games.
As the teams now get set for Game 5 on Wednesday back in Philadelphia, the Sixers have got to dig deep and be able to bounce back to retake control of the series.
“They shoot the ball well,” said Joel Embiid who had a tough night in Game 4. “They got a bunch of shooters so they stretch you out, they move the ball well, their point guard is also pretty good. They play well together as a group. At times, it’s tough to guard them, but we got to do the best job we can.”
The Hawks only shot 12-for-40 from deep and they shot only 36.6% from the floor. Philadelphia was able to do a solid job of defending Atlanta, but it was on the offensive end where the Sixers really had their trouble.
The ball stuck on that end of the floor, they were not able to get into any type of groove, and it was a huge reason why they blew their 18-point lead.
“It should have been a game that’s ours, but right now it’s in the past,” said Tobias Harris. “We just move on and we get ready for the next one. That’s all you can do.”
The good news for the Sixers is they are now returning home where they have been so dominant all season. They have an opportunity to go up 3-2 and be able to move to within a win of the Eastern Conference Finals.
“Obviously, going home, you’re playing in front of your own fans,” Ben Simmons added. “They’re going to give us that boost that we need, probably, but we got to handle business game by game… we gotta be locked in and prepare.”
Game 5 is Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. EDT from Wells Fargo Center.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
[mm-video type=playlist id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f5k5xtr64thj7fw2 image=https://sixerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
[lawrence-related id=47353,47348,47344]