KEVIN Huerter scored a playoff career-high 27 points, Trae Young added 21 points and 10 assists, and the fifth-seeded Atlanta Hawks stunned the host Philadelphia 76ers 103-96 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Sunday (Monday in Manila).
The Hawks will face the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference finals.
Young shot 5 of 23 but made a couple of clutch shots down the stretch.
John Collins had 14 points and 16 rebounds while Danilo Gallinari had 17 points and Clint Capela 13 for the Hawks, who reached the conference finals for the first time since 2015.
The Hawks won three games at Philadelphia in this series.
Joel Embiid led the top-seeded Sixers with 31 points and 11 rebounds yet committed eight turnovers. Tobias Harris added 24 points and 14 rebounds, Seth Curry had 16 points and Ben Simmons contributed 13 assists.
The Sixers haven’t reached the conference finals since 2001.
The Hawks led 48-46 at halftime thanks in large part to Huerter’s 12 points. Young shot just 1 of 12 in the opening half.
Embiid had 15 points but committed four turnovers and appeared to tweak his injured right knee shortly before halftime.
The game was tight throughout the third as the Hawks moved out to a 64-63 advantage with 4:45 left after a tough jumper by Huerter. He was fouled as well but missed the free throw.
In the other game, Devin Booker posted his first career triple-double when he scored 40 points and collected 13 rebounds and 11 assists as the Phoenix Suns outlasted the visiting Los Angeles Clippers 120-114 in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.
Booker scored 16 consecutive points for the Suns in the third quarter and 29 in the second half for second-seeded Phoenix, which was without All-Star point guard Chris Paul (health and safety protocols).
