Fanatic About the Playoffs | Devon Givens Breaks Down Game 5

of the series. What is Fanatic About the Playoffs our brand new postseason podcast series with us at the seventy Sixers and our pals at ninety seven five The Fanatic, with new episodes dropping the day after every Sixers playoff game. I'm Matt Murphy and on this episode, I'm pleased to

be joined by Devon Gibbons of ninety seven five The Fanatic. Devon, let's get started here with last night's game Game five, As we do every Sixers playoff game, a recap in the aftermath, and things were going well for the Sixers as large as a twenty six point lead as we know fourth quarter, that lead got smaller and smaller and the Hawks were able to pull off another comeback in this Eastern Conference semifinals series. Another just like Game four,

another three point win for the Atlanta Hawks. So take me back to your in the post show, and now that you've had a little more time to think about it, what are your thoughts on Game five? Well, Matt, the in the post was very short because the game lasted I believed two hours in close to forty minutes, so it was a long win on Wednesday night. But just sitting on this one a day later now and thinking about everything that happened, I'm just I'm still actually surprised

that the way that had happened. Of course, we know what happened in Game four, blowing eighteen point lead, and as you mentioned, as much as twenty six in Game five, I was stunned that it happened the way that it did, To be perfectly honest with you, and the way that they were rolling, and knowing what happened in Game four, blowing that eighteen point lead, giving that one up and ultimately losing it to tie the series Atlanta did at two two, I really thought that the seventy sixers would

be able to just keep their foot on the gas and not give up at all. Just keeping on the gas, you know what happened. Don't underestimate this team, and not saying that they did. However, something just changed and when it changed, it just kept going and going and going, and unfortunately the result is what we now know, down three to two, and this best of seven series had it back to Atlanta for Game number six. So I'm

still stunned. This is one of the toughest losses that I've experienced in Philadelphia, and I hope that there it would have bounced back in games now six and seven with the their backs against the wall. You said it a three two series now in favor of the Hawks, who have home court in Game six on Friday night.

We will talk about some of the adjustments heading into that game a little bit later on, as well as some of the individual performances from Game five, But from the macro level of Game five, the fourth quarter was

really the turning point. And for me, I know, I said, we'll talk about individuals in a second, but maybe we can start with one of the guys on the Hawks, a former Sixer in Lou Williams, and just the start of the fourth quarter to be from a broader standpoint, because the Sixers started with some bench players out there with Tobias Harris, and then Lou Williams really took over. He scored thirteen of his fifteen points in the game in the fourth quarter, So that start the first few minutes.

He didn't really get it going right away, but then the Sixers subbed their bench guys out, and when the starters came in, the Hawks just kept it rolling. So the fourth quarter is really what we should focus in on, seemingly already in the rhythm, Lou Williams and that group, and you can also talk about Kevin Herder who was also out with Bogdanovi. It's both of those two in foul trouble and you're looking at Gallinari and Williams now

being the catalyst for things. Of course, you'll you'll throw Trey Young in there, but the highlight, of course, as you just mentioned, is Lou Williams and what Lou Williams was able to do by just going out there and just flat out, you know, turning the clock back to what we saw from Lou Williams all those years, and he had it going. And that's what we talk about

when you speak about championship type of contenders. You want to make sure that not only your starters able to do the work, but also having your your bench players, your role players be able to do the work as well. We've seen a Kevin Hurder game, a Gallonari game, and now this one was Lou Williams game where you need that extra help. Trey Young has has done his part in game one. Then you see Gallonari and Herder in the same game against the seventi six is performing very well,

and that Lou Williams. And that was really it to forty to nineteen fourth quarter where the seventy six ers dropped that one by twenty one points, and you just could not figure out a way, as you mentioned with the starters coming back in how to defend Lou Williams. He's been doing it for years and that's what makes him so great for him to be able to still do it, number one, at his age, after being in the league for so many years and knowing how he plays.

And you have these two all NBA level defenders and Ben Simmons mtistible and unfortunately no one could really stop him. And then you have Seth Curry who had a fantastic offensive game. But I'm not sure that that was the defensive assignment that I would have liked to have seen in that moment, especially when you have someone like Lou Williams just rolling and getting it going. X factor. There were multiple difference makers, Lou Williams being one. Let's stay

on this topic and talk about a couple others. I guess we can broaden it to not just one X factor, but a few. I think for the Sixers, Seth curR was certainly one on the offensive end, and then Trey Young, let's talk about him now for Atlanta in addition to Lou Williams with that fourth quarter comeback. So starting with

Curry on the offensive end is one thing. But to your point about defense, it seemed like when Lou Williams had the ball, they were really looking to work the Curry cork Mos defensive combo and get them to switch or see what they could do. And Herder was being guarded by cork Mos, so that that those four players and those two matchups were kind of what they look

to be attacking in that fourth quarter run. Absolutely absolutely, and that was and that's why we talk about the defensive the signmons and wanting again Curry not necessarily on and we speak about the chess match and defensive matchups that you want to seek out in your favor, and unfortunately, when you have a guy going, you want to find a guy that you feel like you can again look at across from you and feel like you can have some success. And that's what Lou Williams was doing and

they did it to perfection in the fourth period. So the Sixers, oftentimes we talk about them doing the same thing. Fine Trey Young and do what you need to do against Trey Young not necessarily known as one of the better defenders in the league, and unfortunately the Atlanta Hawks had their success with that. With Lou Williams, he's a

veteran player. He knows how to do it. He knows how to work the clock and just look at it and see where it get to his spots and get the good shot off that he feels as best for him and his team. And it worked out for them in that game on Wednesday night. So now the adjustments have to be made. Can you do the exact same thing in game and number six and can you prevent them as well as Trey Young, because you cannot forget

about Trey Young by o'donovis in foul trouble. You don't expect for that to be the case once again in game number six. You look at it and you say they're gonna be at four strength, So defensively you have to pick it up. This is one thing that we've talked about with them, the seventy sixers that have really carried them defensively, they've fantastic, and even though they only gave up one hundred and three points forty points in the fourth quarter, that's not something that you really want

to hang your hat on. That's a go back talk about. Look at the film and we need to figure this thing out because before that our defense was tremendous and then in the fourth we gave up that many points forty to nineteen and favor of the Hawks in the fourth quarter back to Seth Curry for a moment. Offensively, it seemed like he was almost getting the buckets back at the beginning of the fourth quarter, But then when it stopped being low Williams, it became Trey Young for Atlanta.

So what were your thoughts on Trey's performance down the stretch. Never gave up and he was defended well for the most part by Ben Simmons emmatistible where he was getting some good looks and he was missing some shots. He snuck in early on in the first quarter. I remember right out of the gate at three pointer or a couple of tier drops that he had in the lane

that worked out for him. And then the Sixers just went on their run and I thought that this one was going to be a route, but he stayed within the game, he stayed within it. They kept chipping away and Lou Williams did his part, and then that's when you had Trey Young as the star player for this Atlanta Hawks team to carry them home. So never giving up the coach preaching the right things and having his team believe that, hey, all you have to do, all you have to do is get to this certain number

and then we'll be in the good spot. That is one thing that we talk about quite often, making sure that if you're down big like that, hey, just get it to ten by a halftime and we can maybe get things going and by the end of the third period, maybe we're down by four and we'll take things over in the fourth. And they just kept chipping away, chipping away, and when they needed their closing the clothes he did

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are against the wall. The adjustment. Doc Rivers said post game that he thought the Hawks comeback started really at the beginning of the second half, when the Sixers turn the ball over. They ended up turn over eight times in the third quarter that led to thirteen points. So for me, maybe a little more value of valuing the basketball in the larger stages, the more important stages of these games, because you have these leads, and then what

happens when a team comes back. Some of it is turnovers and just not valuing the ball as much as you should down the stretch. So if it's that for me, what are things you're looking at for improvements from Philadelphia in Game six on the road? I agree with Rivers on that with the turnovers, that was tough to watch because they just seem like they were going at a pace that they didn't need to. You had the lead, things were going your way. Why does it seem like

you're rushing to do things? And I remember when he called the time out and thinking while we were sitting there that this is a good time out. Let's settle down. We are in a good spot. This is still our game. Make them again conform to what we are doing. Let's not play their game. So I thought that was a good one. So the turnovers, you absolutely right, Matt, that's

one thing. Number two often to lead. You have to find a way to while Embad is getting his Curry is having a career night, you still have to find a way to include others. And then, when I say others specifically, I'm going to Tobias Harris, who was two four eleven did not have a typical Tobias Harris knight that we are accustomed to during this campaign and the postseason.

You need to find a way where he's involved and not feeling like he's left out, where he's just floating in the corner, standing there maybe roman perimeter, but never getting the ball back. You have to find a way to do things. And even if it's getting the ball, and as we talked about finding a mismatch that works in his favor, if it's young Bogdanovich, well we saw some Bogdanovitch and he didn't take advantage enough in Game number five. You have to find a way to get

Tobias Harris back in the mixture. Your second dairy score was Seth Curry with a thirty plus career night type of playoff performance. You still need that other one, especially when things are starting to diminish the lead. You have to get your other guy who is your scorer going. When you are missing Danny Green, you have to do it.

And that's I think the second key for the seventy Sixers is doing that making sure that Tobias Harris feels comfortable and you can get him involved and get him scoring, where now your defense is still playing at that high level, but you are now putting up big time points where

they cannot catch up. Let's finish up by talking about the adjustment that Atlanta made they introduced prior to the last game or a little bit in game for a bigger lineup, and this relates to Tobias Harris and his production too, because if the Hawks goal with John Collins at the three, and they have Gallinari who hit a big shot to go up by three points at the very end of Game five, as well as Clint Capella, Collins has been the only Atlanta defender that's really had

some success, I think against Tobias Harris. So that is something I've been looking at, how that big lineup for Atlanta with those three big guys has impacted the Sixers end, specifically to Bias, and how that will shake out again in the next game. Yeah, and I totally forgot that Bogdanovitch was on Harrison had a little bit of success in Game five as well as Collins, and Tom McGuinness was kind enough to remind me of that as we were doing our post game coverage after the game. But yeah,

the big lineup, this is one of the things. And even when they included Hurder in there because of this size at six seven, that you have this big lineup. But even with the big lineup, to your point, the only one that you might feel is good defensively is John Collins. If I have Danilo Gallinari, yes, a big guy, I still feel on the other end that I can take advantage of him. And the same thing goes for Hurder, not known for his defense. Bogdanovitch the same thing. Very feisty,

but not a defender. And we already talked about Trey Young and as being probably the smaller guy out there, and we've already seen that Clint Capella cannot handle Joel and beat So even with that big lineup, I still, Matt don't see it as a problem for the seventy sixers. They have to find a way to execute, continue to play seventy six or basketball and share the ball. I remember there was one stat early on in the game where the Atlanta Hawks, I believe it was halftime. It yeah,

it was halftime. They only had three assists and the seventy Sixers were in double digits assists. They might have been only fourteen on the baskets that they had, but they were sharing the basketball even when in Bad got it going and he was perfect to start the game from the floor, Quirk mile Is hitting his shot. Same thing for Seth Curry, you still need to They were sharing the ball, so those guys weren't having to work so much. And Doc Rivers talked about it, playing hero ball.

He thought post game, share the basketball, play seventy Sixers basketball, where yes, and beat is the feature, but the secondary everybody else that you're playing off of has had success and you have to again find a way to do that.

Do that and even against those big lineups. You have those big lineups, I think they have a speed advantage when you do that with Simmons out there on the floor, Curry being able to get out in the open floor, hinding his spots and so on and so forth, and indeed then just overpowering the other big guys and that they start to send those double teams, the ball starts to snap around the perimeter again find whatever open man

there is. Even if it doesn't end up on a perimeter with an open shot, maybe you dumping it down low for an opportunity at a basket somewhere in the painted areas. So the big lineups, good adjustment by Nate McMillan, But I don't think that's something that should have hurt the seventy sixers. It was more the sixers not doing their part and executing even against those big lineups and not taking advantage as we wind down with adjustments and

with bald movement. Something else I've noticed is kind of they're playing a little bit tight late in the game when they're running the right yeah, exactly, so that that has impacted the flow of the offense in the sense that they're locked in on the next pass coming out

of timeouts and things like that. So going back to game four real quick, I know where a couple games removed from that, but the Shake Milton play where he let the final play develop so long that Seth Curry nearly didn't get the shot off, and then Shake Milton actually had the ball again in game five, and he drew Hurder and somebody else and Seth Curry kind of slipped out but he didn't see it and he went the other side of the court. These are the final

possessions of Game five. Tobias Harris had a big turnover right out of the time out with about twenty seconds left, where he was just totally zoned in on what was drawn up in that one pass and they're just locked in, and he threw the ball. He was looking for him be kind of at the top of the key, and he just overthrew and turned it over with about twenty

seconds left. So it seems like they're playing so tight, but they've I guess, like you said that, when they're they're just nervous about losing the game at the end. So that's what I've been noticing, just a little bit of tightness and not looking at the next option. And the same thing in both games. In both four and five. You've already seen the things diminished. The momentum is now on the other side, so much pressure is on you.

But you're pros. You won forty nine regular season games, you won the first series in five games, you had a tough game in two and three that you pulled those out really having a control of the game, but showing why you were, as we thought, the better team. And you have to again find ways to do these where yes things get tight, but that's part of it. Atlanta is not going to quit, and you want to

make sure that you do your very best in those moments. Sure, it's a tough position to be in, but as we said, you are professionals. This is what you do and the moment shouldn't be too big at that time when you have the ball, the same thing, I thought it was rushed tight to your point of Embid. When he caught great Ato at four doc rivers for Embid in that game number four where he got the ball, had an opportunity to lay up, I thought that he rushed it.

I felt like he could have taken a power dribble even if his knee was bothering him. This is the final possession. You want to make sure this is the final possession and you walk away with the win, power dribble, lay up or dunk or in that same sequence somehow maybe get a foul call and knocked down your free throws. And now Atlanta has to go down and be the one playing with their backs against it final possession and

try to get a win. So you have to find a way to execute these things down the stretch, and the turnovers are not going to help you. Had it again, it was a three point loss, which was technically a one point game, and the seventy Sixers unfortunately couldn't find a way that you have to execute these It's a tough situations that put that's part of the game. That's part of the game. And we've seen before Tobias Harry seeing the game winner against the Los Angeles Lakers and

so many others where game winners have happened. I don't think that they should be as tight, especially at home. Even though you've blown the lead the way that you did, you have an opportunity. I didn't expect them to be as tight as they were and not get a better look and even get a possession overall shot at the at the rim at all backs against the Wall. Game six Friday night in Atlanta, seven thirty. If the Sixers win that, they will play a game seven in Philadelphia

on Sunday. Divine, where can the people find you this week? Coming up? What do you have coming up? Where can we listen and see you. Well, you can catch me to on the Fanatics starting at six pm on Friday as I get ready for the pregame seventy Sixers and the Atlanta Hawks game number six and then hopefully Game seven. We're talking about a six pm start on Sunday, and we're getting you set for the game against the Atlanta Hawks in game number seven on Sunday. So right there

ninety seven five dot com. You can check them out on the app, and we are there and we typically go until ten o'clock unless there's a game, and we go past past that time closer to midnight, maybe even one o'clock on Friday, because the games have been going so long. So that's where you can find big Game six coming in here five now in the books. Thanks a lot for helping me break it down as always, Matt, thanks so much. Man. Let's see if they can get this one done. Stend this one. We need more of

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