The Atlanta Hawks retaliate for last year’s playoff loss to the Miami Heat (1-4) and win the first play-in duel in the East 116-105, qualifying for a playoff series against the Boston Celtics .
Miami Heat (E7) – Atlanta Hawks (E8) 105:116 (BOXSCORE)
With 33 points from Kyle Lowry, one would have guessed that the Heat would have a thumping victory, but things turned out quite differently. The Hawks led by as much as 24 points and more than 45 minutes into the game because they grabbed 22 offensive rebounds and were much stronger overall at rings with 63:39 rebounds. “It’s just a game. But it was our game,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder praised his team.
Trae Young was his team’s top scorer with 25 points (8/18 FG), 8 rebounds and 7 assists, but his three-pointer (1/8) hardly fell like his teammates, Atlanta only hit 10/41 (24.4 percent ). Overall, however, the Hawks hit almost 47 percent of their shots and had plenty of chances, largely thanks to Clint Capela (4, 2/3 FG), who got 8 of his 21 rebounds in the opposing half.
Dejounte Murray cut a good figure with 18 points and 6 assists, and Atlanta excelled with a strong bank, with all four reserves scoring in double figures. Onyeka Okongwu (12) hit 5/6 of his shots and blocked 4 shots.
Lowry, in particular, put up serious resistance on the other side, coming off the bench in the fourth quarter and hitting 4 of his 5 three-point attempts on the way to 14 points and 3 assists, his 33 points (11/16 FG) mark his previous best in the Heat jersey .
NBA: Jimmy Butler not at his best against Atlanta
Tyler Herro made a good game with 26 points (12/23 FG) and Bam Adebayo (12, 5/12) came in handy with 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. This time, however, Jimmy Butler did not manage to call up his otherwise often particularly strong performances in an important game. Although he played 9 assists, he only hit 6/19 from the field for a total of 21 points.
Behind Lowry there was hardly any significant support from the bench of the Heat, Caleb Martin remained pointless in almost 28 minutes. Miami kept the deficit in the single digits for a long time after the break but never came within close range of an equaliser.
The Heat are still awaiting their opponent for their second chance, facing either the Toronto Raptors or Chicago Bulls in Friday’s 8th place game. “We have to play the exact opposite of what we did today on Friday,” said a frustrated Butler after the defeat.
