NBA Playoff Recap: June 6, 2021

The two best players from the 2018 NBA Draft led their teams in playoff games today, but with different results. Here’s a deep dive into how today’s ABC doubleheader unfolded.

Atlanta Hawks 128, Philadelphia 76ers 124

Hawks lead series 1-0

FINAL BOX SCORE

After out-dueling the Knicks and surviving their rabid fandom, Trae Young now moves on to another East Coast team with a rabid fanbase. He passed the first test, leading his Hawks to victory with a 35-point, 10-assist, two-steal performance.

For most of the game, Atlanta looked miles ahead like the better team. Through the first three quarters, they outscored Philadelphia 51-18 from 3-point range. They also won the turnover battle over that span 11-17 as well as the points off turnovers battle 24-16.

However, the 76ers kept competing, and they finally started charging back. They unleashed a 16-2 run late in the fourth quarter, predicated off of some elite shotmaking from Joel Embiid (2-of-2 during the run), Seth Curry (2-of-2 from 3), and Ben Simmons (1-of-1) as well as some swarming defense that forced the Hawks into bad shots and backcourt turnovers. A couple of the turnovers were derived from trapping Trae Young full court.

Alas, despite the scare, the Hawks made just the right plays in the closing minute to cling on for the win. Joel Embiid paced Philly with an inspired 39-point, nine-rebound performance. He seemed to handle his meniscus injury just fine in this game. Hopefully his body will continue to hold up as the series continues.

The Hawks showed that even though they’re the fifth seed in the East, they won’t just be an easy out in this round. However, the 76ers’ late surge indicates that even though they misstepped on Sunday, they are more than capable of making the adjustments and competing at a high level in future games.

Los Angeles Clippers 126, Dallas Mavericks 111

Clippers win series 4-3

FINAL BOX SCORE

Well, the road team win streak in this series finally comes to an end at six games. The homestanding Los Angeles Clippers pulled off the Game 6 victory and advance to play the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night.

The Clippers showed why, after going down 0-2, both head coach Tyronn Lue and star wing Paul George said they weren’t worried about the prospect of losing the series. In the end, the Clippers star duo and rotational depth finally shined through, turning the tables of the series and getting the crucial Game 7 win in front of their home fans.

Kawhi Leonard once again led the way with 28 points on 66.7 percent(!!) shooting, 10 rebounds, nine assists, four steals, and a block. Paul George wasn’t too far behind, either, notching 22 points, 10 assists, six rebounds, and three steals.

That type of production from their stars could have been more than enough for the Clippers. However, several rotational players stepped up with big scoring efforts. Seven Clippers in total scored double-digits, with Marcus Morris (23 points, seven 3-pointers) being the highest outside of their stars. Other notables include Terance Mann’s 13 points and Luke Kennard, who barely played in this series, getting sizable rotation minutes and finishing with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting.

Dallas, however, did not have the same success with their rotation. Of course, Luka Doncic paced the Mavericks. He came away with 46 points (a new career playoff-high and ties his regular season career-high), 14 assists, and seven rebounds. Unfortunately, Dallas’ heliocentric offense failed them for the second straight game.

Just five Mavericks, including Luka, scored double-figures in this game. For players such as Dorian Finney-Smith (18 points, four 3-pointers) and Boban Marjanovic (14 points, 10 rebounds, three assists), they were maximized efforts that saw these role players lay it all out for their team. However, for the likes of Kristaps Porzingis (16 points, 0-of-5 from 3) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (11 points, 5-of-19 from the field), it was a matter of coming up short in the most important game of the season.

Porzingis, in particular, had a brutal series. He had a 2021 regular season where his averages mostly mirrored his 2020 campaign. However, his playoff production this year fell off of a cliff compared to what he was able to do in The Bubble. He went from averaging 23.7 points and 8.7 rebounds on .525/.529/.870 shooting splits in the 2020 playoffs to 13.1 points and 5.4 rebounds on .472/.296/.842 splits in this series.

I’m not sure if Porzingis’ troubles were a matter of a personal mental block, a rift between him and Doncic, or Rick Carlisle’s gameplan being designed to feature Luka more. Whatever the reason, it drastically cost the Dallas Mavericks their opportunity to advance to the next round.