76ers cough up 26-point lead as Hawks storm back to win Game 5

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.

The Hawks won in Philadelphia for 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.

"We keep fighting no matter what the score is. I'm proud of this team," Young said. "We have confidence in each other. We all love each other's company and it shows on the court. We never stop believing until the final buzzer goes off."

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.

Lou Williams, Danilo Gallinari and Young opened the fourth on a huge run against the Sixers' second unit and kept attacking once 76ers coach Doc Rivers was forced to put the starters in and save the lead.

Gallinari hit a 3 that made it 87-76 and Embiid sprang from his cool down seat behind the basket and ran to the scorer's table to check back in the game. He instantly scored and pushed the lead back to 13.

Didn't matter.

The big shots kept coming for the Hawks — Williams buried a 3 that made it an 11-point game — and Young kept hitting his floaters and his fouls shots.

Ben Simmons, along with Embiid the cornerstone for the Sixers, missed free throw after free throw much as he has for most of the postseason that sped up Atlanta's comeback.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft sat courtside and saw yet another big collapse — only this one against Atlanta.

The Hawks led by 26 points in a Game 1 victory and won Game 4 at home on Monday.

Atlanta fans can roll off a lengthy list of infamous collapses in its collective sports history.

Here was a comeback to remember.

Embiid scored 39 points and Seth Curry had 36. Simmons was 4 for 14 from the free throw line and even Embiid missed two big ones down the stretch. Simmons missed two with the Sixers up 104-96 and the Hawks came right down and scored.

Embiid shook off an 0-for-12 finish in the second half of a Game 4 loss with an 8-for-8 start that helped the Sixers grab a 26-point lead in front of a raucous home crowd.

Embiid is basically playing on one good leg as he plays through torn cartilage in his right knee. The injury got the best of him in Game 4. He couldn't get any lift in his shots — notable in a blown layup late that should have won the game — and his 0-fer in the second half left Philly wondering how hard he could go in Game 5.

Minus Kawhi, Clippers top Jazz

Paul George scored 37 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead the Los Angeles Clippers to a 119-111 victory over the Utah Jazz in Game 5 of their Western Conference semifinals series Wednesday night.

Bojan Bogdanovic 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.

Los Angeles seized an early 10-3 lead after Terance Mann took a steal in for a layup to cap a string of four baskets on four straight possessions. Los Angeles could not hold the advantage for long after Utah started cooking from the perimeter.

The Jazz made a franchise record 10 3-pointers and shot 13-of-18 from the field overall in the first quarter. Bogdanovic led the way, going 6-of-7 from outside, tying an NBA postseason record for most 3-pointers made in a single quarter. He scored the last four outside baskets on four straight possessions to put Utah up 32-26.

Utah kept up the barrage in the second quarter and went 17-of-30 from 3-point range before halftime. The Jazz built up a 10-point lead during the quarter, going up 56-46 when Gobert tipped in a layup to punctuate a 13-2 run.

Los Angeles weathered the storm and surged back ahead early in the third quarter. The Clippers opened the second half on a 23-9 run capped by back-to-back threes from George and Mann and took an 83-74 lead midway through the quarter.