Nba playoff results: Miami beats Atlanta, Gallinari badly

Jimmy Butler always knows how to make a difference. “When there is a game to win, Jimmy always knows what he has to do. It’s part of his genius,” says ecstatic coach Erik Spoelstra, one who has won rings with Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. In Game-2 against Atlanta, Butler made the difference with an elite match on both sides of the pitch, with a 45-point offensive show taking those shots that he often gives up to involve his teammates. The decisive shots. Miami thanks to him tames the Hawks 115-105, much more combative than the disastrous game-1 but still down 2-0 in the series. This time Danilo Gallinari also ends up in the dock: in the first match against Miami he was the best of him, in this second he closed with 2 points and 6 errors from the field his worst game of the year as a starter. On Friday, in Game-3 in Atlanta, the Hawks will need him.

butler show

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Miami won thanks to the Jimmy Butler show. Atlanta played much better in defense, but Jimmy always seemed to know what to do, how to get into the iron or how to go awful from three. “A winner, an elite player on both sides of the pitch – continues Spoelstra in the praise of his star – Jimmy knows how to win and how to help his teams do it, he knows how to do the right thing at the right time. led, he kept us organized in attack by making decisions quickly and in defense he kept everyone at bay. ” Butler was a perfect crescendo, with 15 points in the third quarter good for the draw up to +16 and those in the final to keep Atlanta’s comeback at bay. “I didn’t decide to end the game, it was a crescendo of the team and it happened that I was the one who made the basket – explains Butler as a perfect leader -. Next time it could be someone else, I hope it’s someone else: because I care about win, not that I’m the one to set the decisive baskets “. The other Heat played a game of substance, interpreting the role of supporting actors to the best of their ability (honorable mentions for Max Strus, important with his triples in the extension of the third quarter, and Gabe Vincent, the best in the defense on Trae Young): that’s what makes Miami special, having a deep group that knows their role. And who knows he has to follow Butler.

under 0-2

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“Turnouts made the difference: we wasted 19, and you can’t win like that in the playoffs” says disconsolately Nate McMillan. His Hawks have made progress compared to race-1, they seemed to be the team that could annoy the number 1 of the East in the regular season, but in the decisive moment something went wrong. Gallinari is one of these things: still a starter despite John Collins returning to the quintet, Gallo has never managed to find an attacking pace or an alternative way to lend a hand to the team, so much so that coach McMillan left him in the fourth period. bench. Atlanta plays much better when it has an alternate scorer than Young: it is seen in the fourth period, when Bogdan Bogdanovic (19 of his 29 points) turned on and Atlanta’s attack became less stinging around Young. The Hawks star finished with 25 points and 7 assists, managing much more than in the disastrous game-1 to get out of the grip of the Miami defense, but he also has 10 turnovers on his conscience, the sign of his inability to do the right thing at the right moment, to involve his teammates when the opponents close on him. If in Game-3 at the State Farm Arena he manages to find a way to do it, Atlanta will have a chance to reopen the series.

the match

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Equilibrium immediately, with Atlanta responding to the blows of Miami and Butler and after leading for a good part of the 2nd quarter (at 31 “from the interval even Gallinari’s only points in the match arrive from the line) returns to the locker room under 56- 54. Strus is the spark that ignites the Heat at the start of the second half, an explosion that Butler feeds with his talent up to 94-78 that Martin signs from 3 to 8’48 “from the end. It is there that Atlanta wakes up, with Bogdanovic placing one basket after another and reducing the gap to 104-101 with 3’16 ”to play. Except Butler always knows how to do the right thing, and he signs the baskets that deliver Miami 2-0 in the series.

Miami: Butler 45 (11/18 from two, 4/7 from three, 11/12 free throws), Herro 15, Strus 14. Rebounds: Dedmon 9. Assists: Butler 5.

Atlanta: GALLINARI 2 (0/2 of two, 0/6 of three, 2/2 free throws), 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal in 21’41 “. Bogdanovic 29 (7/8, 5/10), Young 25, Hunter 16. Rebounds: Collins 10. Assists: Young 7.