Atlanta Hawks: 3 keys to the stunning Game 7 victory

Atlanta Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic battled through a knee injury in Game 7 but still made an impact

The Hawks may have lost the hustle stats battle, and gotten out-assisted by the 76ers, but they did manage to win the turnover battle. Philly’s 17 turnovers weren’t even the most they had in a series where they had fewer than 10 in just one game. Embiid had eight on his own. Atlanta on the other hand had turnover issues of their own but came out with the edge in Game 7.

Young had six giveaways as his shooting woes caused him to press a little in the heart of the game.

Beyond that though, only three other Hawks had at least one turnover and only one, Collins, had more than one with just two.

We talked about the issues turnovers were giving the Hawks and what it would mean if they weren’t able to clean it up. Their 10 giveaways in Game 7 were their second-fewest of the series, though they do rank fifth in the postseason.

Even more impressive is their nine steals is just the second most they had this series. And two players who failed to score much, Bogdanovic and Lou Williams, had five steals between them.

If they are able to take care of the ball as they did and take it away as they did in several games this series, they could also pull the upset against the Bucks. For what it’s worth, Milwaukee did just average 12.9 turnovers per game against the Nets so there will be opportunities for the Hawks to take the ball away.

Where they’ll have to be careful is the Bucks are not far behind the Hawks in steals per game this round and actually ahead of them in the playoffs overall, checking in at sixth.