PHILADELPHIA — The Atlanta Hawks are headed to the Eastern Conference finals.
They beat the Philadelphia 76ers 103-96 in Game 7 on Sunday night. Trae Young scored 21 points.
Kevin Huerter led the Hawks with 27 points. Joel Embiid scored 31 points for the Sixers.
This marked only the second year since 1973 when the NBA began seeding for the playoffs by conference when neither No. 1 seed will make the conference finals. West No. 1 seed Utah was eliminated by the Clippers.
How they got here
The Hawks had already won two games in Philadelphia. They rallied from 26 points down in Game 5 and beat the Sixers. The 76ers won the last matchup 104-99. Seth Curry scored 24 points to help lead Philadelphia to the win and Trae Young totaled 34 points in the loss for Atlanta.
The Sixers have waited for this moment since they began their rebuild in 2013 and pinned their championship hopes on Joel Embiid and fellow All-Star Ben Simmons to carry them to their first championship since 1983.
The 76ers went 31-11 against Eastern Conference teams versus the Hawks who were 24-18.
