Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks pulled off a playoff comeback for the ages against the Philadelphia 76ers to move within a victory of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Young was fouled on a 3-pointer and hit all three free throws with 1:26 left to cap a 26-point comeback and send Atlanta on its way to a 109-106 victory over the 76ers on Wednesday night in Game 5.
The Hawks won in Philadelphia for the second time in the series and can advance to the conference final for the first time since 2015 with a victory Friday night in Atlanta.
Young scored 39 points and added to a postseason where he has become a breakout star.
Joel Embiid scored 17 points in the first quarter and had the Sixers on their way toward a romp with a 26-point lead in the first half. They still led 87-69 at the end of the third before they collapsed.
Embiid finished with 39 points, and Seth Curry had 36.
CLIPPERS 119, JAZZ 111
Paul George scored 37 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead the Clippers to a victory over the Jazz in Game 5 of their Western Conference semifinals series.
Marcus Morris scored 25 points and Reggie Jackson added 22 for the Clippers. Los Angeles won its third straight game to push the top-seeded Jazz to the brink of elimination. The Clippers shot 51% from the field with Kawhi Leonard in the lineup.
Bojan Bogandovic scored 32 points – while making nine 3-pointers – to lead Utah. Donovan Mitchell added 21 points. Rudy Gobert chipped in 17 points and 11 rebounds. Six players scored in double figures for the Jazz.
Utah and Los Angeles will play Game 6 on Friday in Los Angeles.
The Jazz trailed the entire fourth quarter after making just six baskets in the third quarter. Utah cut the deficit to 100-97 when Mitchell converted a 3-point play with 5:46 left. Jackson answered with back-to-back baskets to squelch a Jazz comeback. Utah could draw no closer after that point.
Trae Young hit a floater in the lane with 4.4 seconds left and the Atlanta Hawks overcame a 16-point deficit in the second half to beat top-seeded Miami 111-110 on Friday night, cutting the Heat’s series lead to 2-1.
Jimmy Butler missed a jumper with 12.6 second left that could’ve given the Heat a three-point cushion. He missed again on an off-balance 3 at the buzzer with De’Andre Hunter in his face to give the Hawks a burst of hope in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 is Sunday night in Atlanta.
P.J. Tucker led a 21-0 run in the third quarter that pushed the Heat to an 84-68 lead and seemingly on cruise control to a 3-0 lead. But Young and the Hawks would not let them get away.
The Heat also were dealing with an injury to point guard Kyle Lowry, who went out in the third quarter with a hamstring problem and did not return. He’ll undergo tests Saturday to determine the severity of the injury.
Young finished with 24 points despite another stout defensive effort by the Heat. Bogdan Bogdanovic added 18, Hunter 17 and three others scored in double figures to take some of the pressure off the star guard.
Coming off a 45-point effort in Game 3, Butler was held to 20 in this one and missed a golden chance to give Miami a stranglehold on the series. Tyler Herro led the Heat with 24 points, and Max Strus also had 20.
The start was delayed about 45 minutes after a suspicious package was found outside State Farm Arena before the game.
BUCKS 111, BULLS 81
Grayson Allen made five 3-pointers and scored 22 points and Milwaukee dominated Chicago to take a 2-1 series lead without the injured Khris Middleton.
Giannis Antetokounmpo added 18 points, Bobby Portis had 18 points and 16 rebounds and the defending champion Bucks made it look easy coming off two shaky performances at home.
Middleton is expected to miss the rest of the series after spraining his left knee in Wednesday night in a loss. Game 4 is Sunday in Chicago.
Antetokounmpo scored all but two of his points after the first quarter. The two-time MVP finished with nine assists and seven rebounds.
Nikola Vucevic led Chicago with 19 points.
