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The Philadelphia 76ers blew Game 5 against the Atlanta Hawks in epic fashion, throwing away a 26-point advantage and totally melting down in crunch time to suffer a stunning 109-106 defeat. The top-seeded Sixers are now on the brink of elimination after choking away consecutive games in this second-round series.
Ben Simmons is taking a lot of heat for his dud of a Game 5 in which he took only four shots, was 4-of-14 on free throws and was totally invisible offensively as Philly blew the game. Tobias Harris isn't escaping the blame either, as he picked the worst time to have his biggest stinker of the playoffs, going for four points on 2-of-11 shooting.
We know Philly fans can be pretty savage, and they're mad about another blown game. They're so mad they're putting up missing persons signs in the city with pictures of Simmons and Harris on them.
See for yourself:
And now these “Missing” signs are popping up in Philly…. pic.twitter.com/yh6mputxhz
— Alex Holley (@AlexHolleyFOX29) June 18, 2021
Harris had been good in the series up to this point, scoring at least 20 points in each of the prior four games on strong efficiency. But that didn't let him escape the wrath of Sixers fans.
Simmons isn't known for his scoring and hasn't done much of it in this series, but his total lack of aggressiveness later in games has been a major storyline. He didn't attempt a single shot in each of the last two fourth quarters as Philly imploded. There's also the debacle at the charity stripe, which has forced Doc Rivers to bench Simmons during key moments in crunch time.
Needless to say, the Sixers need two of their highest-paid players to not be on a milk carton in Friday's Game 6 in Atlanta. If Philly loses this series, Simmons and Harris are two guys who could find themselves on Daryl Morey's chopping block. We already know the fans will be ruthless.
