76ers vs. Hawks: The best player prop bets for Game 6

Whether it was Doc Rivers' decision to pull his starters early in Game 5, or his original decision to have Danny Green guard Trae Young back in Game 1, you get the feeling that the Philadelphia 76ers didn’t always treat the Atlanta Hawks as a credible threat. Well, I’m guessing they have their attention now.

After a historic 26 point collapse on Wednesday, Philadelphia now sits on the brink of disaster. The Hawks are playing with a high degree of confidence and have shown the resolve to overcome huge deficits throughout the series. Far from showing their inexperience in these playoffs, they’ve proven that they won’t beat themselves. The Sixers will have to seriously elevate their play to stay alive.

Game 6 is tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. With playoff pressure nearing a boiling point, which players will step up with big performances? We have player prop odds and our three best picks below.

TRAE YOUNG OVER/UNDER 2.5 3-POINT field goals MADE

Coffee is for closers. Trae Young has put on a masterclass of pure point guard play this series, including his ludicrous 18 assists in Game 4. The Sixers learned the hard way that putting two on the ball is a win for Trae. He wants you to send help so he can pick you apart.

But it wasn’t too long ago that Trae relied less on his teammates if he wanted the offense to hum. Closeout games are weird. Players get tight. Mental fatigue takes over and players return to their most fundamental habits. For Young, that’s shooting the long ball. He's eclipsed the 2.5 3-point field goals made mark in three of the five games in this series so far, with two of those times coming at home.

With Game 6 in Atlanta, Young will look for his shot early and often, and I expect him to hit the Over.

PICK: OVER 2.5 3-POINT FIELD GOALS MADE (-120)

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SETH CURRY OVER/UNDER 15.5 POINTS

Daryl Morey, who took over as Philadelphia's general manager just this season, was lauded for the roster makeover he pulled off to maximize spacing around Embiid and Simmons. Part of that was parting ways with Al Horford, but an even bigger part of it - perhaps more than even Morey realized at the time - was swapping Josh Richardson for Seth Curry.

Curry has been outstanding since joining the Sixers, and his outside shooting has created the spacing and gravity that Philadelphia desperately needed. But he has also developed into more than just a spot-up 3-point shooter. As defenses make a point to run him off the 3-point line, Curry has developed into a deadly pull-up shooter in the midrange as well. He is generating more shots from that range than any prior year in his career. He hits 49% from long midrange and 48% from there overall, per Cleaning the Glass. This all culminated in his Game 5 performance, where he scored 36 points on just 19 shots.

One shouldn’t expect an exact repeat of his Game 5 production, but Curry’s scoring outburst is part of a growing trend and proof of his development as a multi-level scorer.

PICK: OVER 15.5 POINTS (-127)

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TOBIAS HARRIS OVER/UNDER 21.5 POINTS

There’s plenty of blame to go around for the Sixers’ disastrous loss the previous game, but the most striking statistic was that no Sixers player outside of Joel Embiid and Seth Curry hit a field goal in the second half. In particular, Tobias Harris’ vanishing act was inexplicable. He went 2-11 from the field and drifted listlessly through the offense as the Hawks rollicked all the way back. 

But looking back on the shots he did take throughout Game 5, there’s no reason to think his struggles will continue. The fact of the matter is that the Hawks simply don’t have a good matchup for Harris, whose combination of size and shooting ability on the perimeter is where they really miss DeAndre Hunter.

Harris has been a bedrock of consistency for the Sixers this series, scoring either 20 or 22 points in every prior contest on more than 50% from the field. Look for Harris to come out extremely aggressive in Game 6, and to work inside and prove again that nobody on the Hawks can guard him.

PICK: OVER 21.5 POINTS (+110)