The Atlanta Hawks missed a golden opportunity Friday night to climb the standings in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament. Atlanta was in Miami to take on the Heat for the final time this season, and just like the previous two meetings, it came down to the wire. The Hawks were up by six points with about five minutes remaining in the game, but let Miami back in, with poor-shot selection and bad late-game execution. Miami snuck out with the 113-109 victory.
One thing to note, Miami played starters, Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry, and sixth man, Tyler Herro, 30-plus minutes each. The Heat had already clinched the East’s top seed with their win over the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday night. For both Heat and Hawks fans, it may have been a surprise to see both teams playing at full strength. It does raise the question of why that was the case, but the Hawks still had every chance to win this ball game.
Trae Young kept the Hawks in it for as long as he could. He finished with 35 points and 8 assists, but shot a paltry 27.3% from beyond the arc. Matter of fact, the three-point discrepancy between the two teams was the potential deciding factor, as Miami hit 11 three’s on 42.3%, while the Hawks went 8-of-34, for a measly 23.5%. Given that horrible discrepancy, Atlanta still could have won this game and got help from some of their auxiliary players.
Clint Capela finished with his 34th double-double, with 17 points and 14 rebounds. He was a regular running-mate for Young all night via pick-and-roll. If there is one bright side, that aspect of the Hawks offense seems to be back in full swing, just in time for the playoff push.
Bogdan Bogdanovic finished with 25 points off the bench, which was another bright spot for the Hawks. He has been great since late-February and March, and the Hawks will need him down the stretch. Kevin Huerter rebounded from his 5-point outing on Wednesday and finished with 15 on the night.
The foursome of Butler/Herro/Lowry/Adebayo finished with 66% of the team’s 113 points. The Heat beat the Hawks 3-1 in the season series overall. The Hawks have their work cut out for them but this still has the potential to be a first-round match-up in the playoffs.
Atlanta now has one game remaining on their schedule and it is a trip to Houston, TX, to take on the Rockets. Atlanta lost its lone-meeting against the Rockets earlier this season, after a massive fourth quarter collapse at home. Atlanta can ill-afford another lackluster performance as they can still finish as high as the eighth seed or as low as the ten seed. There is still a lot of jockeying for position between the Hawks, Hornets, Brooklyn Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers. One thing is for sure, Atlanta is in must-win mode and has been for a while. Sunday’s game is an afternoon tip-off at 3:30 p.m. eastern.
