It’ll go down as one of the most disastrous nights in Philadelphia sports history, as Kevin Huerter (yes Kevin Huerter) and the Atlanta Hawks marched into Wells Fargo Center and stole a spot in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Process is officially over in Philadelphia!
They were handed a walk-in card to the Eastern Conference Finals having avoided the Nets and Bucks in the 2nd round, and still failed to get to the big dance.
Trae Young was ice cold, yet somehow got his Hawks over the line late, showing how much of a superstar he is, overcoming adversity to get Atlanta within a shot of the NBA Finals.
Joel Embiid posted on his social channels that he played through the series with a torn meniscus.
At the end of the day, if Joel Embiid was healthy enough to be out on the floor, he was healthy enough to finish off this series at home against their lowly ranked opponents.
Ben was a shell of himself against the Hawks all series, and his confidence was evidently shot when he passed up a wide open dunk late in the game, leading to Thybulle going 1-2 at the line.
It’s Markelle Fultz all over again, and just like Markelle, he may need a change of scenery!
Simmons attempted three total shots in the final quarter across the 7 games played in the series.
Baffling for someone who gets to the rim with ease, especially given his match up this series.
One would be extremely surprised if this team stays intact next season, with growing concerns they just don’t have a point guard who can score/control late game situations in these big playoff games.
Tobias Harris was also paid a lot of money and again didn’t live up to his contract, going 8-24 in the final game of the series, unable to give this team much needed buckets late in games to help ease the pain on their superstar big.
Where to now though for Philadelphia?
They had all the pieces in play to at the very least get to the Conference Finals, and still found a way to blow that, as well as crushing the hearts of many Aussie 6er Fans.
Teams may not be willing to take on the contracts of Tobias and Ben looking at what they produced once again in the playoffs and their value has decreased going into next season.
As an Aussie Hoops fan, one hopes Ben gets his confidence back in time for the Games in Tokyo, as if we get this version of him, we unfortunately may be going home medal-less once again.
There’s no doubt he is an elite defender, but his offensive skill-set must improve if his career is to get motoring in the right direction in the NBA, as well as winning the Boomers their first medal!
Bauky