PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Just when things looked bleak, Shake Milton and the rest of the 76ers’ bench players came alive.
The Sixers took Game 2 over Atlanta by beating the Hawks 118-102. The Sixers stormed out to an early lead before the Hawks rallied ahead late in the third quarter. The Sixers bench did not produce any points in the first half, but that changed shortly after Atlanta took the lead.
Milton hit a flurry of shots and finished with 14 points in 14 minutes, and the Sixers’ reserves scored 26 of the team’s next 30 points.
Coach Doc Rivers saw his team pull away in the fourth quarter and was pleased to see the way his bench players responded.
“We challenged them at halftime,” said Rivers. “We had zero points [from the bench] at halftime, and we challenged the defense. We said if they get stops, we’ll score. I thought our guys did a phenomenal job defensively first, then we picked the right guys, obviously. Bringing Shake in was huge for us.”
While Milton provided a spark off the bench, Joel Embiid put together another monster performance. Despite his knee injury, Embiid came through again with 40 points and 13 rebounds. It came the same day when Embiid learned he was not named the league’s MVP, though the Sixers’ big man has other goals on his mind.
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“I’m focused on the playoffs,” Embiid said. “I’m focused on winning a championship. Like I’ve been saying all season, we’ve got a good chance, so I’m not worried about those awards.”
The Sixers were able to keep their focus after the Hawks erased an early lead. Tobias Harris had 22 points, with many of them coming in the first half. Harris said attention to detail was key.
“We really stuck to the game plan and was able to execute out there,” said Harris. “We were able to find ways that we could really just excel on the floor as a whole group. I thought we did a great job on that.”
The series now shifts to Atlanta for the next two games. Despite Tuesday night’s victory, the Sixers will have to win at least one game on the road to win this series. Embiid is confident as he and his teammates prepare to head south.
“The series is only one-one,” Embiid added. “There’s nothing to really to be happy about. You’ve just got to try and go there and win both and take one at a time.”