Hawks pull off monumental comeback to take 3-2 lead over Sixers

MANILA, Philippines — A furious comeback propelled the Atlanta Hawks past the Philadelphia 76ers for a 109-106 win and a 3-2 lead in their NBA Eastern Conference semis series at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Wednesday (Thursday, Manila time).

Trailing by as much as 26 points in the third quarter, Trae Young and the Hawks chipped away at the lead with a huge second half where they outscored the Sixers, 69-44.

The Hawks didn't get their first lead of the game until there was only 1:26 left after Young hit three free throws to complete the epic comeback, 105-104.

Danilo Gallinari then increased the lead with a turnaround fadeaway jump shot with less than a minute left to go up by three.

But it was ultimately an empty trip at the charity stripe from MVP finalist Joel Embiid that doomed the Sixers.

The Cameroon-born big man had a chance to slice Atlanta's lead to one with the free throws but failed to convert on either of them.

Young sank two more free throws and Seth Curry made good on a second chance bucket to arrive at the final score.

Young led the Hawks in the comeback effort with 39 points while John Collins, who had a clutch block against Tobias Harris with 1:13 ticks left, had 19.

Embiid and Curry scattered 37 and 36 points, respectively, for the Sixers.