Written by Titan Frey
I originally planned on writing an article on the three wonderful game sevens we were going to have this weekend. Then, the Los Angeles Clippers messed up my plans… more on that in a second.
The Philadelphia 76ers finally held on to their lead to win and force a game seven on Sunday, June 20th at 8:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.
Joel Embiid struggled with his shot (9-24), but he played his overall solid game (22 points, 13 rebounds).
Seth Curry also had another good game with 24 points, but the key to the Sixers victory was Tyrese Maxey.
Maxey scored a crucial 16 points in addition to playing tough defense on Hawks star Trae Young.
Maxey also played five more minutes than the struggling Ben Simmons, which seemed to be the right move.
The big question now is, which team will execute better in game seven? With both their seasons on the line, this game should turn out to be a good one.
Now, let’s get back to the Jazz vs Clippers game. The Jazz held a commanding 25 point lead at one point in the third quarter, and the Clippers’ curse seemed to be alive and well.
Then, the most unexpected thing happened… the Clippers rallied back. Who led the charge? If you thought it was Paul George, then you would be wrong.
George started the game back as his awful old playoff self, appropriately known as “Pandemic P”. George was not the “man“ who brought the Clippers back. Instead, it was another Mann…
Yes, it was the second-year man, Terance Mann who carved through the Jazz’s defense and helped lead the comeback charge.
Mann scored a career-high 39 points, and that’s after only having 25 total points in the series. Mann also knocked down seven three-pointers… he looked unstoppable out on the court.
Terrance Mann wasn’t the only Clipper to lead the comeback, veteran Reggie Jackson also played big in the second half.
Jackson scored 27 while dishing out 10 assists. Most of his points and assists came during the Clippers’ huge run.
The Clippers also got a big performance, defensively and offensively from Patrick Beverley.
Beverley scored 12, with three big three-pointers coming in the fourth quarter. His defense on Jazz star Donovan Mitchell
was huge.
Paul George, who started slow, also played big down the stretch, he became “Playoff P” once more.
George finished the game with 28 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals.
After the game, George said this about the win: “You felt the monkey off of the Clippers’ back in terms of getting out of the second round. It was just a special night. You know you felt it, the cheers, the excitement.”
Now, the Clippers move on to play the Phoenix Suns on Sunday, at 3:30 PM Eastern Standard Time.
With Kawhi Leonard most likely out because of injury and Chris Paul out from the NBA COVID protocol, which team will have the upper hand?
You won’t know till you watch. Make sure you tune in on Sunday.