Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid and Doc Rivers catching heat for 76ers' collapse
The Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed is up against the ropes.
After blowing an 18-point lead to lose Game 4 against the Atlanta Hawks, the Philadelphia 76ers did one better (or worse) Wednesday, gagging away a 26-point cushion to lose Game 5 109-106 at home.
The reaction was swift and scathing for the woeful Sixers.
While Trae Young and the Hawks certainly deserve their flowers for pulling off such a wild comeback, more than anything, the Sixers were under the microscope.
With a collapse such as that, especially on the heels of such a bad loss two days earlier, there was plenty of blame to go around. For the most part, pundits primarily targeted three key figures: Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid and Doc Rivers.
On Thursday's episode of "First Things First," Kevin Wildes pointed toward Simmons' atrocious conversion rate from the free-throw line as a glaring issue for Philadelphia.
Simmons is shooting 12-for-39 (30.8%) from the charity stripe in five games against the Hawks this series. He has never been much of a free-throw shooter (59.7% in the regular season for his career), but his postseason drop is precipitous from his 61.3% average for the 2020-21 season.
Simmons' presence on the floor has become an opportunity for the Hawks and head coach Nate McMillan. Throughout the series, the Hawks have picked their spots to deploy the "Hack-a-Ben" strategy, sending the 24-year-old guard to the line in hopes of empty trips.
With two field goals made and a 4-for-14 evening for eight total points at the FT line, Simmons' Game 5 stat line wasn't pretty.
On the other hand, Embiid dropped 37 points and hauled in 13 rebounds in the game.
In fact, he had a blistering start to the game, going a perfect 8-for-8 from the field for 17 points in the first quarter. However, he faded down the stretch, particularly in the fourth quarter.
As Chris Broussard put it, Embiid essentially bolted at the first sign of trouble for Philadelphia.
Embiid made one field goal in the fourth quarter, cashing in four free throws to muster just six points in the final frame.
The guy calling the shots, Rivers, also caught a lot of flak for Wednesday's failure. Considering that Embiid is playing on an injured meniscus, Nick Wright gave the superstar center a bit of a pass for disappearing late.
Wright was not so lenient with Rivers.
"I can't give Doc Rivers a pass," he said. "… This is a huge problem. So I am, Wildes, going to pile on Doc here because fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me 11 times, shame on everybody!"
Nick Wright and Chris Broussard decide who's to blame for 76ers' GM 5 loss | FIRST THINGS FIRST
With Rivers, blowing large leads has unfortunately kind of become his modus operandi.
It happened with the LA Clippers in the bubble a season ago, and now it has happened in back-to-back games with the Sixers.
Ultimately, the Sixers will now have to win back-to-back games against the Hawks to advance. Their first chance to rinse out the bad taste of Games 4 and 5 will come at 7:30 p.m. ET Friday in Atlanta.
For Simmons, Embiid and Rivers, it could be a golden chance at redemption — or a reckoning.
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