Can The Hawks Stop The 76ers? Suns On The Verge Of Advancing! 6.11.21
It’s a Friday night of NBA playoff basketball and we have two game 3’s tonight.
(1) Philadelphia 76ers vs (5) Atlanta Hawks
Philadelphia 76ers (2-1)
Philly dominated this game, like they should. The Hawks were already overmatched and now they’re without Hunter for the rest of the year. The offense was very good, especially that bench who had struggled so far in the playoffs. 28 bench points in the first half for Philly and 48 points overall. 66 points in the paint as they just bullied the smaller Hawks in the paint.
22 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists for Harris who continues his fantastic play. 27 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists for Embiid who continues to be a mismatch. Curry had 12 and we had the rare Ben Simmons offensive game. He had 18 points as he got into the post a little more in this game, always like to see Ben Simmons being aggressive.
Korkmaz had 14 off the bench and Howard had 12 as well. The 76ers shot nearly 60% from the field and 48% from 3. They were 25/39 from the line which is bad, but they still dominated. They continued to bother Trae Young and they forced the Hawks to take tough shots. They limited the Hawks to just 6 3-pointers as it seems Philly has control of this series.
Danny Green missed almost the whole game with a calf injury, playing just 3:45 in this game. Matisse Thybulle was his sub in the first half, he’s all offense no defense. Korkmaz started the 2nd half, he’s just a pure shooter. Green is expected to miss Game 4, so we’ll see who Philly inserts into the starting lineup.
Atlanta Hawks (1-2)
The Hawks are in trouble. With no Hunter, Tobias Harris and Ben Simmons don’t have comparable defenders. Capela can’t guard Embiid and when they doubled Embiid, he had 8 assists. It’s not like the offense was bad. The bench was outplayed but they’re main guys played well.
23 points and 7 rebounds for Collins, 19 for Bogdanovic, 28 points and 8 assists for Young and 17 off the bench for Gallinari. Just the defense has been so bad in this series.
Obviously no Hunter plays into that but the Hawks can’t allow 66 paint points and for Philly to get nearly 40 free throws. They have to make them an outside team and then 6/23 shooting from 3? The Hawks have to be better there. The Hawks have to win Game 4, otherwise this series is all but over.
(2) Phoenix Suns vs (3) Denver Nuggets
Phoenix Suns (3-0)
Phoenix isn’t hiding what they’re doing. Attacking Jokic in pick and rolls with their elite guards and their defense has been so good against Jokic. They’re make the Denver others beat them and they haven’t done nearly enough for any games to be close. The Suns dominated the 3rd again as they have done all series as they cruise to a 3-0 series lead, one game away from their first Western Conference Finals since 2010.
Offensively the Suns have gotten whatever they wanted, whenever they want it in this series. They shot 53% from the field and 46% from 3. They got 20 free throws and they had 26 assists as they just continue to run circles around Denver.
The offense is just the starting 5, all of them were once again in double figures. Bridges had 11, Crowder had 14, double-double and superb Jokic defense by Ayton. But the backcourt dominated again.
28 points and 6 rebounds for D-Book and 27 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists for the Point God. Booker has been unguardable and CP’s shoulder seems to be ok. Paul had a 11-1 assist to turnover ratio in this series, which is just wild.
Jokic shot 45% from the field and MPJ was 5/13 as Phoenix has taken them both out of this series. The Suns are now on the verge of winning this series in dominating fashion as they simply can’t be stopped.
The Suns have a +29 point differential in the 3rd quarter of this series. Chris Paul is 12/13 with 30 points and 8 assists in the 4th quarters of this series. Dominayton.
Denver Nuggets (0-3)
Yeah, not much to say here. The Nuggets defense is bare without guys like Jerami Grant, Plumlee, Gary Harris, and Torrey Craig, who is on the Suns. Jokic is getting targeted and that along with trying to carry this team is clearly fatigued him as he shot below 50% again.
He still had 32 points, 20 rebounds (10 offensive) and 10 assists but he’s not getting help. MPJ’s back is probably still bothering him, he was 5/13. Aaron Gordon was awful, 2/10 shooting. Rivers and Campazzo have done nothing in this series.
Barton and Morris combined for 35 points off the bench as they were very good in this game. But Denver was 14/41 from 3 and they had 14 turnovers, which led to 20 Phoenix points. The Nuggets are just short-handed. When they eventually lose this series, they need more depth. They need defense and more scoring help for Jokic and Murray when he comes back. This team was lucky to make it to the 2nd round, but their season is over.
What Are Your Thoughts From The 2 Games Today? Leave A Comment Down Below!
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