Australian NBA star Ben Simmons found himself watching from the sidelines in the final play of today's semi-finals playoffs clash, with his Philadelphia 76ers going down to the Atlanta Hawks 103-100.
Hawks star point guard Trae Young overcame a cold start to score 25 points, including a floater that gave Atlanta the lead with 1:17 remaining as the Hawks rallied to beat the 76ers to tie the Eastern Conference semifinal at 2-2.
While Philadelphia letting an 18-point lead slip away is a concern, another is the unreliable shooting of Simmons, who was pulled from the final play of today's game by coach Doc Rivers, with the 76ers needing a three-pointer to send the game to overtime.
Today should've been a celebration of Simmons' inclusion into the NBA's All-Defensive First Team for the second year in a row, but instead the Australian was the butt of jokes on social media after he as forced to watch as teammate Seth Curry put up a three-pointer in an effort to tie the match as the full-time buzzer sounded. The brother of Golden State Warriors star Steph hit the back of the rim, narrowly missing the shot that would have forced overtime.
Simmons finished with 11 points, nine assists and 12 rebounds, but shot 1-5 from the free-throw line and didn't register a single point in the fourth quarter.
Game 5 is on Thursday in Philadelphia.
The Sixers led 60-42 late in the first half but Atlanta chipped away in the third quarter. Bogdanovic opened the final period with a 3-pointer to give Atlanta its first lead of the half, 83-82.
Philadelphia led 98-94 before John Collins' three-pointer cut the lead to one point. Young's floater with 1.17 remaining gave Atlanta a 99-98 lead, and his two free throws when fouled by Embiid pushed the advantage to three.
The Hawks hung on from there, catching a break when Embiid missed a layup and the Sixers knocked the ball out of bounds with 7.8 seconds remaining.
– with AP
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