76ers Dominate Game 2! Mitchell’s Big 2nd Half Saves Utah! 6.8.21
It’s another day of NBA semi-finals actions and we have two games on the schedule tonight.
(5) Atlanta Hawks vs (1) Philadelphia 76ers
Atlanta Hawks (1-1)
This game was up and down for Atlanta, but mostly down. They couldn’t handle the 76ers pressure and the only reason the game was somewhat close at times was their elite bench play. Other than that Philly easily handled this game. The Hawks have to hit more shots and play better defense. Obviously having De’Andre Hunter would help but the Hawks looked really poor in this game.
The Hawks offense was horrible to start this game. Just chucking up shots and no ball movement at all as Philly pounded away down low. Harris had 16 in the first quarter alone and the Hawks fell behind by 18. But the Hawks recovered really well. Their bench unit led by Gallinari and Huerter played such good minutes as it was the bench that got them back into the game.
The Hawks trailed by two at the half after being down by 18 in the first. The Hawks had a 32-0 bench points advantage in the first half. Huerter and Gallinari each had 15 to cover up for Young and Bogdanovic who were held in check after running wild in Game 1. But the Hawks couldn’t stop the Big 3 of Harris, Embiid, and Curry who combined for 48 points in the first half.
The bench was very good but the Hawks weren’t shooting well (35% from 3) and Young didn’t have nearly the impact that he did in Game 1.
The Hawks stayed competitive in the 3rd and they even took the lead. But they couldn’t sustain their effort on both ends as Shake Milton got going for Philly. Milton didn’t even play in the first half but he blew the game open. Milton had a couple of 3’s in the 3rd, including a 3 from half-court to beat the buzzer. Milton hit two more 3’s in the 4th and had 14 points in 14 minutes to help Philly get the win.
The offense and defense was poor for the Hawks overall as they were in a box.
Bogdanovic and Young were both 6/16 from the field. Young got past Simmons a lot but his length was clearly bothering Young. Capela really struggled against Embiid again as that is looking like more and more of mismatch despite the fact that Capela was supposed to be a good matchup for Embiid.
Huerter and Gallinari had 41 off the bench and the Hawks had a 49-26 bench advantage. I don’t know if their bench can do that again. The starters have to be better overall. The Hawks hit 11 3’s and only 3 of them came from the starting lineup. The starting 5 has to set the tone for the game.
If there’s no De’Andre Hunter, there’s not much you can do against Harris. Seth Curry has cooked them in this series with his shooting as the Hawks can’t really stop Philly thanks to the Embiid mismatch which leads to more problems.
17 turnovers leading to 28 points, 14 2nd chance points, and 20 fastbreak points? The Hawks were sloppy, didn’t box out and didn’t get back defensively. They also got bullied down low. The Hawks got embarrassed and now they have to respond. They have to shoot better, Young has to convert at the rim and they have to slow down Tobias Harris or Curry, making Embiid the lone scorer offensively.
Philadelphia 76ers (1-1)
The 76ers dominated this game with both their offense and defense as they looked very sharp in this game from the start. They dominated down low and got out in transition to get an 18-point lead in the first thanks to 16 from Harris. The offense continued to roll but their defense against the Hawks 2nd unit was awful. Philly was outscored 32-0 in bench scoring.
All of their points came from their starters, mainly from Curry, Embiid, and Harris who combined for 48 points in that first half. The 3rd quarter started off slowly and then Shake Milton had 14 points in the 2nd half as the 76ers dominated the 4th, holding the Hawks to 18 points and evening the series.
40 points and 13 rebounds for Embiid who has just been unstoppable. He did take some bad shots from the outside but overall he was great. 22 from Harris who had 16 in the first quarter, decent game. 21 from Curry who is likely going to be their 3rd scorer with Simmons essentially being ineffective scoring wise this postseason.
Simmons did a very good job on not letting Young get open and making him play in a crowd. Danny Green did a great job on Bogdanovic as the defense was very good. The bench was saved by Milton who had 14 in the 2nd half. But in terms of scoring, the 76ers lost that battle by -23. I know the Hawks won’t be that good again but the 76ers bench has to produce.
Doc Rivers did do a better job of making sure Harris/Embiid was on the floor at all times for some offense but overall the bench has been poor. But Philly knows how to defend Trae Young and the Hawks and their offense has looked really good. They know how to win this series, it’s just about executing.
(4) LA Clippers vs (1) Utah Jazz
LA Clippers (0-1)
A tale of two halves for the Clippers. The Jazz shot poorly in the first half and LA didn’t as they led by double-digits at times. But Donovan Mitchell torched them in the 2nd half and their offense went cold as they couldn’t close out the win, watching Game 1 slip through their fingers.
The Clippers played pretty good defense in that first quarter. The Jazz at one time missed 20 straight shots, not scoring for almost 9 minutes of the first quarter. The Clippers were getting out to shooters and their small lineup was helping them. Offensively PG and Kawhi weren’t even good, but at least they weren’t missing 20 straight shots. Luke Kennard was their best offensive player in the first, a little weird but you’ll still take it.
The Clippers continued to roll in the 2nd. Guys like Beverley and Cousins who hardly played in round 1 were playing in this game. The Jazz offense got going but LA had 35 points in the 2nd and they led by 13 at the half. The Clippers hit 11 3’s and they had a 27-11 bench scoring advantage. They were leading with PG and Kawhi shooting a combined 3/13 from the field in the first half.
They were lucky that the Jazz were missing shots. Such luck didn’t happen in the 3rd. The LA offense went ice cold and Donovan Mitchell went off. He had 16 in the 3rd as Utah erased that double-digit lead to tie the game entering the 4th. The Jazz dominated the period when Zubac was in the game and the Clippers lost all momentum.
The Clippers continued to struggle as they fell behind by 10 in the 4th. They trailed by 8 with 1:48 left in this game but they made a run. Mitchell missed with about 20 seconds left and now the Clippers trailed by 3, trying to force OT. The Clippers couldn’t get open and it led to a Marcus Morris corner 3 that was smothered by Gobert. It wasn’t a good look and they had a timeout but elected not to use it. The Clippers had this game but they blew it.
Leonard struggled, 9/19 shooting and just 23 points. It’s a decent game but after what he did to Dallas, it’s weak. He was kind of passive, just 6 shots in that first half. The Clippers can’t afford for him to be passive. They need Game 6 and Game 7 Kawhi. Morris was 4/14, PG was 4/17. These guys just have to play better.
Luke Kennard had 18, he was really good. Ty Lue seems to trust him more after what he did in Game 7. The Clippers small lineups worked ok and then Mitchell just started to attack Reggie Jackson and then Zubac didn’t work at all in that 3rd. I did like the fact that the small lineup made the Jazz go 26% from 3 in the first half, but in that 2nd half their defense was shredded.
Their big stars have to play that way. Kawhi and PG have to be better and then guys like Morris have to hit shots. The Jazz weren’t that great in this game without Mike Conley but they scraped out the win. Let’s see if LA can respond in Game 2 and tie this series up.
Utah Jazz (1-0)
This is why I don’t like the Jazz. Their shooting is so good but at the end of the day it’s shooting, it can be really bad or really good. It was really bad in that first half. There was a time period where they missed 20 straight shots in the first quarter and they made only 5 field goals in the 1st, all of them were 3’s. They were down 13 at the half but Donovan Mitchell had 32 in the 2nd half to lead the comeback for Utah as they got a much needed win.
That first half was ugly. The Jazz shot 32% from the field and 26% from 3. Mitchell was 5/14, Bojan was 3/8, Ingles was 3/9, Clarkson was 3/10. Everybody was ice cold from the field as the Jazz offense was the reason they were losing. Their defense against Kawhi and PG were excellent as if they hit shots and held Kawhi and PG down, they could win. That’s exactly what happened.
Mitchell had 16 in the 3rd as he targeted Reggie Jackson who eventually fouled out. The Jazz dominated the 3rd when the Clippers went small or big. The game was tied entering the 4th and then the Jazz built a lead and barely hung on to win thanks to Rudy Gobert with the game-saving block. Jazz win a game they were dead in the water and they win without Conley. Very big Game 1 win.
In that first half the Jazz were just chucking up 3’s and not getting to the line. In the 2nd half they had 19 free throws and they were shooting 44% from 3 in the 2nd half. Without Conley in that first half, they didn’t have a true point guard and they weren’t generating good looks. But Mitchell got aggressive and the Jazz got to the rim more. If 3’s aren’t falling, don’t keep shooting them. And credit to Utah, they adapted to win.
45 for Mitchell with 32 of those coming in the 2nd half. He was very good and really got them going. 18 for Bogdanovic and Clarkson. Clarkson was inefficient, he has to take better shots. Ingles struggled but Gobert was really good. He only had 10 points but he clogged up the paint and the Clippers only had 28 points in the paint this game, largely due to Gobert being down there.
The key for Utah is generating good looks and being aggressive. You saw what they were doing when they were driving the ball and getting good looks in the 2nd half. That’s the good side of Utah. The bad side is chucking up bad 3’s and not making any of them. That’s the bad side and they can’t play like they did in the first half and expect to win.
Hopefully Conley is back for Game 2 because they missed him but it’s a good start to the series where Utah didn’t play that great and still won.
What Are Your Thoughts From The Two Games Today? Leave A Comment Down Below!
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