Then the Philadelphia 76ers outdid themselves in their Game 5 matchup against the Atlanta Hawks, blowing a 26-point lead in the second half, when they were still up by 10 points with just 4 minutes left.
Now, in a series that they should have realistically won already, the Sixers find themselves facing potential elimination in Game 6 on Friday night.
The first half of Game 5 was excellent, as Joel Embiid completely dominated at both ends of the floor to lead the way.
“To me, for most of the second half, the only movement sets we had going were the Seth actions.
Philly’s defense slipped, Doc Rivers’ bench-heavy lineups failed late in the third and early in the fourth, Embiid and Curry were the only Sixers to hit a shot in the second half, and the team completely failed to execute offensively in a game that should have been impossible to lose.
“You know, the weakness right now is when we gain those leads, we kinda go away from what got us there,” Harris added.
If you’ve missed any of our coverage on what on earth happened, you can check out Sean Kennedy’s Bell Ringer piece, and Harrison Grimm’s recap.
The collapses have come when defensive lapses occur, offensive execution falters, bench-heavy lineups unsurprisingly falter, and the offense gets bogged down by roster issues that can’t be avoided.
Even if Embiid’s knee is becoming an more of an issue for him late in games, the rest of the team has to do more to support him offensively.
Simmons needs to be more aggressive and engaged offensively, whether he’s screening more off the ball, looking to drive more to the rim , or actually taking advantage of available mismatches against smaller defenders.
“We’ll be back here for Game 7, I believe that.
Losing to a team with superior offensive firepower like the Brooklyn Nets in the Conference Finals would be an understandable end to what’s been an entertaining, successful year of improvement for the Sixers.