Atlanta Hawks: 5 reasons behind the big Game 6 letdown

The Atlanta Hawks were, admittedly, in unfamiliar territory; a young team trying to close out their more experienced counterparts who had been through all sorts of adversity. Perhaps not “facing elimination to a fifth-seed” kind of adversity, but they’re no strangers to devastation. That’s important to remember as this series gets set to conclude on Sunday, Father’s Day.

Losing this game 104-99 is a tough pill to swallow for several reasons.

Game 7 will be in Philadelphia. The Hawks are 2-1 in the City of Brotherly Love this postseason, but in a winner take all situation, being on the road is less than ideal with the way this series has gone with neither team being able to completely wrest control away from the other.

How did the Atlanta Hawks manage to lose such a winnable Game 6 at home?

Atlanta also led this game at halftime. It was a slim margin, just four points, but the losing margin was just five. What’s a nine-point swing to a team that has already overcome deficits of 18 and 26 points in this series? Of course, that’s the problem when relying on late-game heroics because other phases aren’t clicking.

So what were those other phases? The usually explosive Hawks averaged 113.7 points per game in the regular season, 106.5 points in the playoffs, and 108.7 per in this series.

But they were so off their game in Game 6 that they were held under 100 points for the first time since Game 2 against the Knicks. In fact, it was just the 12th time all season that the Hawks finished below the century mark.

So what were the catalysts behind the Hawks disappointing Game 6 loss?