NBA: Hawks, 76ers set for Game 7; Bucks await in East finals

After a grueling 72-game marathon and nearly two rounds of the playoffs, it all comes down to a one-game sprint for the Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers.

The fifth-seeded Hawks visit the top-seeded 76ers on Sunday night in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

The winner will advance to the Eastern Conference finals, where Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, fresh off beating the Brooklyn Nets in a series that also went the distance, await.

The 76ers staved off elimination with a hard-fought 104-99 win in Atlanta on Friday night. 

"It's fun. It's a lot of fun," said Seth Curry, who highlighted his 24-point performance by making six 3-pointers. "That's a great team over there. ... You've just got to weather the storm and come back at them at the other end." 

Joel Embiid collected 22 points and 13 rebounds while continuing to play through a small lateral meniscus tear in his right knee.

Embiid's frustration, however, was evident after he felt he wasn't receiving enough foul calls from the referees. Embiid and John Collins nearly ended up in a tussle behind the basket.

"I just want it called both ways," Embiid said. "If we are going to call something like nothing on their point guard (Trae Young), it should be the same way when they call the same thing on me if I get touched."

The Sixers last reached the Eastern Conference finals in 2001, when they ousted the Milwaukee Bucks in seven games.

"The guys are ready to play," Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said.

The surprising Hawks dispatched the New York Knicks in five games in the opening round.

The Hawks won twice in New York in that round and have done the same in Philadelphia in this series.

"To be honest, I don't think any of that matters," said Young, who had 34 points and 12 assists on Friday. "It's one game. They came in and took care of business to force a Game 7. ... All the other games don't mean anything. Both teams are in win-or-go-home situations." 

The Hawks, who are already without De'Andre Hunter with a right knee injury, could also be without Bogdan Bogdanovic. Bogdanovic left in the fourth quarter with right knee soreness and was sidelined for the rest of the game.

Coach Nate McMillan on Saturday said he was uncertain of Bogdanovic's status for Game 7, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The Hawks likely will need Bogdanovic and others to shoot well from beyond the 3-point arc if they wish to advance. On Friday, the Hawks made only 10 from beyond the arc and missed 11 of 24 free-throw attempts.

"It feels like we haven't shot well really since Game 1," Atlanta's Kevin Huerter said. "We have to get that rhythm back. We made a couple late threes that put us in a one-possession game late in the fourth quarter. Obviously, we couldn't hit one in the big moments to close this thing out."

The Hawks made a franchise playoff-record 20 3-pointers in the series opener. In a deciding Game 7, the Hawks simply need to do just enough to win. 

"I think guys are getting a lot of good looks and good shots," Young said. "They're just not making them."

-reuters-

NBA: Simmons, 76ers agree to five-year, $170M extension

Point guard Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers agreed to a five-year, $170 million maximum contract extension, The Athletic's Shams Charania reported Monday.

Agent Rich Paul confirmed the deal, Charania said.

Simmons, who turns 23 on Friday, made his first All-Star team in the 2018-19 season and averaged 16.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 1.4 steals in 79 starts.

The 6-foot-10 Australian was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft and won NBA Rookie of the Year honors in 2017-18.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

NBA: LaVine scores 39, carries Bulls over 76ers

Zach LaVine's driving layup with 1.6 seconds left in the game lifted the Bulls to a 108-107 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday in Chicago.

Philadelphia had a chance to win after LaVine missed a free throw, but a lob into the paint intended for Jimmy Butler with was off the mark as the buzzer sounded.


Players walked off the floor but the officials convened and determined that Robin Lopez did not tip the ball and the clock erroneously started, giving Philadelphia a second chance.

Ben Simmons' inbound pass to Butler was fumbled and the Bulls finally earned the win to snap a two-game losing skid.

Butler made two free throws with 4.8 seconds left to give the 76ers a 107-106 lead. Chicago called timeout and LaVine drove the lane practically uncontested to score the winning basket after a defensive switch gone wrong. He was fouled by Mike Scott, but missed the free throw.

LaVine finished with 39 points on 14 of 26 from the field. He scored 24 of his points in the second half.

Robin Lopez recorded 19 points and nine rebounds. Otto Porter Jr. finished with 15 points and nine boards.

Butler scored 22 points to lead five Philadelphia players in double figures. Ben Simmons, the reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week, compiled 18 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.

The Sixers were playing without Joel Embiid, who missed his seventh straight game because of knee soreness. He could return on Friday when Philadelphia faces the Rockets in Houston.

The Sixers led 86-82 heading into the fourth quarter and opened an eight-point lead on a 3-pointer from James Ennis III.

The Bulls fought back and tied the game on a 24-foot 3-pointer by Porter with 2:44 left. The Sixers maintained the lead until Lopez's free throw with 17.1 seconds left gave the Bulls a 106-105 lead.

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NBA: Embiid's monster night carries 76ers to OT win

Joel Embiid had a season-high 42 points to go along with 18 rebounds and four blocked shots to lift the Philadelphia 76ers past the visiting Charlotte Hornets 133-132 in overtime Friday night.

It was the eighth game for Embiid this season with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds.

Ben Simmons racked up 22 points, eight rebounds and 13 assists, Dario Saric added 18 points and nine rebounds, while JJ Redick added 17 off the bench as the Sixers improved to 7-0 at home for the first time since 2002-03.

Kemba Walker scored 22 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as Jeremy Lamb added 17. Dwayne Bacon also had 15 for the Hornets, who had their two-game winning streak snapped.

Simmons knocked down a pair of free throws and Saric followed with his fourth 3-pointer of the half for a 65-50 Philadelphia advantage heading into the locker room.

The Sixers led 100-91 three minutes into the fourth as Walker continued to struggle, missing 15 of his 17 shots. On Charlotte's next possession, however, Walker drilled a 3-pointer and the Sixers' lead was cut to 100-94.

Walker stayed hot and suddenly the Hornets trailed just 104-103 after a 15-foot jumper with 6:53 left.

Bacon came back with a jumper on Charlotte's next possession and the Hornets moved ahead 105-104 with 6:27 remaining.

After Embiid hit a pair of free throws, Walker proceeded to hit a triple from the top of the key for a 117-112 lead with 1:18 left.

Embiid scored the next five points, including a 3-pointer, to tie the game at 117 with 34.4 seconds remaining.

Walker responded with a tough driving layup as the Hornets went back in front 119-117.

Embiid knocked down two more free throws and the game ended up going to overtime.

Redick‘s jumper gave the Sixers a 127-124 lead in overtime with 2:22 remaining.

But Malik Monk got loose under the basket and converted a three-point play to tie the game again at 127 with 1:33 left.

Simmons' tough driving layup put the Sixers up 131-127.

He blocked a potential game-tying 3-pointer by Walker on the baseline to preserve the win.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

76ers' Simmons named Rookie of the Year

Philadelphia 76ers point guard Ben Simmons has been named the NBA's Rookie of the Year after the former No. 1 overall pick helped the team break its five-year playoff drought.

Simmons beat out Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell and Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum. The award was presented at Monday night's NBA Awards show in Santa Monica, Calif.

"I'd like to thank my family, to start off with," Simmons said. "My family, friends, you know I wouldn't be here without them, and my teammates of course and my great coach (Brett Brown), and the city of Philadelphia for really embracing me."


Simmons was taken with the top pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, but a broken foot sidelined him for the 2016-17 season.

The 6-foot-10 guard averaged 15.8 points, 8.2 assists, 8.1 rebounds and 1.7 steals over 81 games last season.

Simmons, who turns 22 next month, helped the 76ers advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals, where they lost to the Boston Celtics in a five-game series. He averaged 16.3 points, 9.4 boards, 7.7 assists and 1.7 steals in the playoffs.

Pacers guard Victor Oladipo is the NBA's Most Improved Player after a stellar first season in Indiana that ended in a playoff showdown with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

He beat out fellow finalists Clint Capela of the Houston Rockets and Spencer Dinwiddie of the Brooklyn Nets.

"Shout out to the Pacers organization for believing in me," said Oladipo, who was dealt to Indiana last offseason in the deal that sent Paul George to the Oklahoma City Thunder. "It's only the beginning for us."

Oladipo, 26, averaged a career-high 23.1 points with 5.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.4 steals to earn his first career All-Star selection, as well as a spot on the All-NBA third team and the All-Defensive first team.

In the playoffs, Oladipo averaged 22.7 points, 8.3 boards, 6.0 assists and 2.4 steals, but it wasn't enough to send the Pacers onto the conference semifinals, as they lost to the Cavaliers in seven games.

Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert won the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award, beating out Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans and Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Gobert, who turns 26 on Tuesday, missed 26 games during the regular season with multiple injuries, but still anchored a Jazz defense that posted the second-best defensive rating (101.6) in the NBA last season.

The Frenchman averaged 13.5 points, 10.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in 56 games to earn his second straight NBA All-Defensive first-team selection. Gobert led the league in blocks in 2016-17 with 2.6 per game.

Los Angeles Clippers guard Lou Williams is now a two-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award winner after being named the league's best bench player for the 2017-18 campaign.

Williams, who also won the award with the Toronto Raptors in 2014-15, averaged career highs of 22.6 points and 5.3 assists, along with 1.1 steals in 79 games (19 starts) last season with the Clippers.

"I want to thank the Clippers organization for giving me an opportunity to be myself," Williams said.

He beat out finalists Eric Gordon of the Houston Rockets and Fred VanVleet of the Raptors. Gordon won the award last season.

Dwane Casey earned Coach of the Year honors after guiding the Raptors to a first-place finish in the Eastern Conference.

Casey beat out Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens and Jazz coach Quin Snyder for the honor.

Under Casey, the Raptors won a franchise-record 59 games opposite 23 losses to claim the No. 1 seed in the East. However, Casey was fired after the Raptors' second consecutive second-round loss to James and the Cavaliers. He was hired as the new coach of the Detroit Pistons, replacing Stan Van Gundy.

Casey also coached the Eastern Conference in this year's All-Star Game.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Simmons leads Sixers past Wolves, 120-108

Rookie Ben Simmons recorded his 10th triple-double with 15 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds as the Philadelphia 76ers dominated the third quarter and defeated the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves 120-108 on Saturday.

The 76ers won their sixth straight by outscoring Minnesota 39-19 in the third quarter. They shot 55.6 percent (15-of-27) in the period while getting 13 assists and holding Minnesota to 15.8 percent (3-of-19).

Simmons had 10 points and five assists in the third as Philadelphia totaled 33 assists. It was the Sixers' 24th straight game with at least 20 assists, equaling the team record set during the 1992-93 season, and their 20th game this season with at least 30 assists.

Joel Embiid and Dario Saric added 19 and 18 points, respectively, as Philadelphia shot 47.7 percent and made 13 of 37 3-pointers (35.1 percent).

Reserve Marco Belinelli contributed 17 while Robert Covington chipped in 11 as Philadelphia (42-30) clinched its first winning season since 2004-05.

Andrew Wiggins led Minnesota with 16 points on a night when the Wolves shot 38.1 percent and were 6-of-23 from 3-point range. Karl-Anthony Towns posted his league-leading 61st double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds but was 3-of-15 from the floor.

Embiid missed his first four shots but Saric scored 11 points as the Sixers took a 32-24 lead going into the second quarter. Minnesota was within 47-42 on a fadeaway by Wiggins with 4:34 left. Philadelphia took a 13-point lead about three minutes later, but Jamal Crawford hit a 19-footer at the buzzer to cut the lead to 59-52 by halftime.

The Sixers opened the second half with a 15-2 run and grabbed a 74-54 lead when Simmons recorded his 10th assist on Covington's 3-pointer with 8:12 left. Philadelphia saw the lead reach 86-60 on a layup by Ilyasova with 4:34 remaining and took a 98-71 advantage into the fourth.

Minnesota was within 111-101 with about 2 1/2 minutes left after a basket by Gorgui Dieng. After Dieng blocked Ersan Ilyasova's layup, Simmons, Embiid, and Covington returned.

Minnesota forced the Sixers to seal it at the line by fouling Simmons, who made three foul shots down the stretch.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

NBA: Simmons scores 32 to pace 76ers past Bulls

Ben Simmons hit a pair of free throws with 5.6 seconds remaining, and he finished with 32 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds to send the visiting Philadelphia 76ers past the Chicago Bulls 116-115 on Thursday night at United Center.

The point total was a career high for Simmons, helping Philadelphia extend its winning streak to a season-best six games.

Chicago led by one after a pair of JJ Redick free throws with eight seconds left, but Philadelphia's Joel Embiid (30 points, 13 rebounds) came up with a steal and the Bulls' Denzel Valentine committed a foul on Simmons.

After Simmons' foul shots, Chicago's Bobby Portis missed a potential game-winning jumper with 0.1 ticks remaining.

Portis had a career-high 38 points and eight boards, making 15 of 26 shots -- including 6 of 9 3-point attempts -- to eclipse his previous high of 27 points set Dec. 15 at Milwaukee. Zach LaVine scored 23 points, and David Nwaba added 21 points and nine boards for the Bulls.

Chicago lost for the fifth time in seven games.

Simmons also recorded a first-half block, joining Michael Jordan and Ron Harper as only the third player since the 1963-64 season to record 100 steals and 50 blocks through their first 55 games.

Portis extended his career-best streak of games with double-digit scoring to seven.

The Bulls led 69-67 at halftime after falling into an early 18-point hole before rallying to post a season high for first-half points.

The 76ers led 93-91 after three quarters and were up 104-103 after an Amir Johnson free throw with 7:52 to play, but Chicago used a 12-6 run to go up 115-110 heading into the final minute.

Bulls center Robin Lopez, who had started the first 57 games of the season, was inactive for the contest. Justin Holliday was also inactive for Chicago as coach Fred Hoiberg reshuffled the lineup, with Nwaba and Cristiano Felicio (five points) starting.

"I want to be playing, obviously, but we have a great group of guys," Lopez told reporters prior to tip-off. "Our squad has a great future, and I can be a part of that future."

The 76ers won two of their three games against the Bulls this season.

Chicago plays at Minnesota on Saturday. Philadelphia hosts Orlando on Saturday.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Simmons hits triple double in Sixers win

WASHINGTON -- Australia's Ben Simmons set himself beyond such NBA immortals as Michael Jordan and Lebron James with a triple double on Monday in only his fourth league contest for the Philadelphia 76ers.

The 21-year-old from Melbourne, last year's NBA Draft top pick who missed all of last season with a right foot injury, scored 21 points, grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and passed out a game-high 10 assists for the Sixers in a 97-86 triumph at Detroit.

"I felt like I needed to just kind of take over and find guys and make plays," Simmons said.

Simmons became the first NBA player in 50 years to manage a triple double -- double-digit game production in three statistical categories -- within his first four league starts.

And he's only the third NBA player to manage the achievement, joining Art "Hambone" Williams of the 1967-68 San Diego Rockets and Oscar Robertson of the 1960 Cincinnati Royals.

Each of those players went on to become an NBA champion, Robertson with Milwaukee in 1971 and Williams with Boston in 1974.

The Aussie is also only the second player to open his NBA career with four double doubles, matching Robertson from 57 years ago.

Cameroon big man Joel Embiid scored 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the 76ers, who took their first win of the season after three defeats.

"I'm just glad we won, honestly," said Simmons. "That means so much more than stats for me.

"It's awesome to have a triple-double but at the same time, it's even better to win, especially with these guys and a young team like this."

Simmons is averaging 15.7 points, 10.3 rebounds and 6.0 assists through his first four NBA games.

"Him with the ball, able to do the things he does, produces a lot of these mismatches and numbers," 76ers coach Brett Brown said. "We were able to post him -- he's able to see over pick-and-rolls -- and you see how gifted he is in early offense and the open court.

"He has got that breakaway speed that's jaw-dropping. And he's 6-foot-10 (2.03m). That stat line, we were kind of seeing snapshots of that the first three games. It just seems a lot more special when it's associated with a win."

- Warriors romp at Dallas -

Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry scored a game-high 29 points while Kevin Durant added 25 points and Klay Thompson had 21 as the defending champion Golden State Warriors improved to 2-2 with a 133-103 rout at winless Dallas (0-4).

Greek star Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 32 points and Khris Middleton added 20 to lead the Milwaukee Bucks over visiting Charlotte 103-94. The Greek has cracked 30 points in every game for the 3-1 Bucks.

With 147 points over the first four games of the season for the Bucks, Antetokounmpo broke the club's four-game season-opening scoring mark of 146 points by Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar from 1972.

Mike Conley hit two 3-pointers in a pivotal 13-0 Memphis run in the fourth quarter to help the Grizzlies rally past host Houston 98-90. Spaniard Marc Gasol led Memphis (3-0) with 26 points while Conley added 17.

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 20 points to lead five double-figure scorers as the San Antonio Spurs downed visiting Toronto 101-97. Dejounte Murray had 16 points and 15 rebounds for the Spurs.

Bradley Beal scored 20 points and John Wall added 19 and 12 rebounds to power Washington to a 109-104 victory at Denver, Wall's two free throws with seven seconds remaining sealing the triumph for the 3-0 Wizards.

At Miami, Josh Richardson scored 21 points and Wayne Ellington netted 19 of his 20 points in the second quarter to lead the Miami Heat over Atlanta 104-93.

source: news.abs-cbn.com