First meeting of the Play-in Tournament and first surprise with the victory of the Hawks on the floor of the Heat! (116-105) A deserved success for the Falcons, who will face Boston in the first round of the Playoffs.
To find the detailed stats of this meeting, it’s right here.
The Hawks start strong, the Heat are on the street
It was time for a reunion on the South Beach side between Atlanta and Miami. Opponents last year in the Playoffs, the two teams meet this time at the Play-in in a cleaver match. At home and logically favorite, the Heat does not seem to be aware of the challenge of the meeting. The Hawks start with a bang, closing the racket and perfectly attacking the defensive faults of the men of South Beach. Aggressiveness, efficiency, dominance on the rebound, Trae Young’s friends are enjoying themselves and the match is one-sided.
On the Miami side, the leaders are not there. Butler had announced a victory, he would probably have done better to act first. Bam Adebayo brings in defense but offensively he misses. Tyler Herro is weighed down by mistakes to really find his rhythm. The only consolation for fans is to see a vintage Kyle Lowry carrying all of Florida on his shoulders to keep the Heat alive. There are +15 Atlanta at the break and it is frankly well paid for Miami.
Miami wakes up, Atlanta let the storm pass.
We imagine that Erik Spoelstra passed a hell of a soap to his troops at the break. The energy of the Heat players seems to have been found on returning from the locker room. Defensively, it’s clearly better. Offensively, Tyler Herro begins to chain the strings. It only takes a few minutes for the match to be fully restarted.
The piou-pious are in pain but do not give in to the panic. Returned to -5, the Heat failed to drive the point home and Georgia players then resumed their march forward. Ice Trae is having a good day, the contribution of substitutes is immense for Atlanta, Miami has just missed a golden opportunity to make the visitors doubt.
The Kyle Lowry show, the Hawks collective finishes the job
Here we are in the money time and, while the Heat are once more at a good distance, who still comes out of their box? Kyle Lowry of course. The veteran point guard is the game of his season, everything he touches turns to gold. With 3-pointers, he once once more gave hope to the American Airlines Arena, but Atlanta still found the answer.
Dejounte Murray hits a few big shots late in the game, the Heat have no answer once morest Clint Capela, in greedy mode in the racket this evening and who had visibly magnetized the ball (21 rebounds including 8 offensive!). Atlanta kills the suspense and can quietly end the match in an empty room. The Heat missed the boat and will have to recover, still at home, once morest the winner of the Toronto-Chicago match. The Hawks take the direction of Boston, where the Celtics await them.
???? OFFICIAL: CELTICS – HAWKS IN THE FIRST ROUND OF THE PLAYOFFS! pic.twitter.com/7DqiAy2odg
— TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) April 12, 2023
