Heat open their quest for a title
MIAMI— The 2021 NBA Finals had been over for approximately three minutes, and newly crowned champion P.J. Tucker was already overcome by one very distinct emotion.
“I’ve got to feel this again,” Tucker said.
That’s why he left Milwaukee for Miami last summer. It’s why Kyle Lowry, a 2019 champion with Toronto, also joined the Heat this past offseason. It’s why Markieff Morris, a 2020 champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, is with the Heat now. It’s why Udonis Haslem, who turns 42 in a couple of months, is still with Miami and seeking a fourth ring.
Regular-season successes were nice, but meant little to the Heat in the grand scheme of things. What matters is the postseason and the pursuit of a championship, which truly starts Sunday when the top-seeded Heat begin an Eastern Conference first-round series against Trae Young and the eighth-seeded Atlanta Hawks.
“This is what you’re here for,” Lowry said. “This is what you play for. This is what you train for. These are the situations that you look forward to.”
Miami had two things for practice Saturday that it didn’t have on Friday— an opponent, and a starting center. The Hawks earned their playoff spot by beating Cleveland in a play-in game Friday night, and on Saturday morning Bam Adebayo was back at practice for the first time all week after clearing the NBA’S health and safety protocols.
Miami has its big man. Atlanta’s bigman rotation is a major question mark after starting center Clint Capela left Friday’s game late in the second quarter with a hyperextended right knee. And the Hawks are still without fellow big John Collins, who missed the final 16 regular-season games and both play-in contests. That said, the Hawks still have Young — one of the most dynamic scorers in the game, someone who had six points at halftime of the win-or-gohome game against Cleveland on Friday, then had 32 more points on 10-of-14 shooting in the final two quarters.
“I think he lives for these moments,” Hawks coach Nate Mcmillan said. “Built for this moment. I think he is built for this moment. I said it to him last year going
into the playoffs; his game, his confidence, his belief in himself, playing in big moments like this, he doesn’t shy away from it.”
The Hawks went 1-3 against the Heat this season, though neither side expects that to mean much come Sunday.
“It’s exciting,” Young said of the matchup. “We get another opportunity. They’ve been clicking on all cylinders, especially here recently. They’ve gotten a
little bit more rest than we have so we’ve got to be ready to bring it. We know the crowd’s going to be crazy, the environment’s going to be fun, so we’ve got to be ready to be locked in and take care of business.”
Miami went to the finals in Jimmy Butler’s first season with the Heat, the year that was interrupted by the start of the pandemic and then resumed in the bubble at Walt Disney World. Last season led to another playoff berth, but Miami was overwhelmed and swept in the first round by Tucker and the Bucks.
This season, a 53-29 mark earned Miami the No. 1 seed. The Heat, quite simply, want much more.
“We all want to win a championship,” Butler said. “That’s our goal. … Kyle has been telling us how to make it happen along with Keiff, along with Tuck, along with UD — the champions that we do have. We’ve got great leadership and we got to find a way to get 16 of them.”
Series history: Atlanta is 2-0 in previous series against the Heat, both firstround matchups that went the distance. The Hawks won 3-2 in 1994, then 4-3 in 2009 in Spoelstra’s first season with the Heat. It’s the second time Spoelstra and Mcmillan have faced off in the playoffs; Miami swept Indiana in 2020, and the Pacers fired Mcmillan later that offseason.
Inside this season: Miami went 3-1 against Atlanta; the team that shot better from the field and shot better from 3point range won all four games, which isn’t exactly rocket science. Young averaged 25.5 points in the four games. Tyler Herro averaged 20.0 for Miami and the Heat went 3-0 in the three games in which he played. He didn’t play in the lone Atlanta win, nor did Lowry. The Hawks had double-digit leads in three of the four games against Miami, but the Heat rallied to win two of those contests.
Been a minute: Nearly six years have passed since Miami won a playoff game in its own building. It was Game 6 of a second-round series against Toronto on May 13, 2006. The Heat are 0-4 in playoff games in Miami since; the run to the 2020 NBA Finals was in the restart bubble near Orlando, Florida.
Road Warriors: Counting Friday’s win at Cleveland in the play-in tournament, Atlanta is 7-4 in road playoffs (or playoff-type) games since the start of last season. The Hawks went 2-1 at New York in Round 1 last season and got a series closeout win at Madison Square Garden, 3-1 at Philadelphia in East semifinals (winning Game 7 on the road) and 1-2 at Milwaukee in the East finals.
Fanduel says: Fanduel Sportsbook has the Heat as the second-biggest favorite in the East in Round 1, behind only Milwaukee — an overwhelming favorite to beat Chicago in their first-round series.
Remembering Robinson
Jackie Robinson Day is always important at Dodger Stadium because of the franchise’s role in baseball’s integration and because Robinson grew up in Pasadena, 10 miles away from the Dodgers’ future home.
Robinson’s son, David, spoke to the Dodgers at the base of Jackie Robinson’s statue in the plaza behind the outfield bleachers before the game. Robinson’s 99-year-old widow, Rachel, received several hearty ovations during a pregame ceremony.
First pitch
Ichiro Suzuki threw out the ceremonial first pitch in Seattle Friday night. Suzuki, who still works as an instructor for the Mariners and is at the ballpark most days, came out in a full uniform to throw the first pitch to Julio Rodriguez. Seattle is inducting Suzuki into the Mariners’ Hall of Fame in August.
Leading man
Two-time Academy Award winning actor Tom Hanks, who began his career at the Great Lakes Theatre Festival in Cleveland, threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Doby Jr. Hanks, who voiced over the Guardians’ name announcement video on July 23, 2021, had a replica volleyball from the film “Cast Away” on the mound.
Trainer’s room
Reds: 2B Jonathan India wasn’t in the lineup after injuring his hamstring Thursday. … RHP Luis Castillo threw 20 pitches in live batting practice at Dodger Stadium. He’ll throw again Tuesday.
Dodgers: Manager Dave Roberts thinks RHP Tommy Kahnle and LHP Caleb Ferguson should be ready to return to the majors in 3-4 weeks. They’re both coming back from Tommy John surgery.
Padres: RF Wil Myers wasn’t in the lineup due to a swollen right thumb. He has been fighting the injury since spring training. With Myers out, C.J. Abrams made his first start in the outfield. … San Diego reinstated RHP Luis Garcia from the 10-day IL and optioned RHP Kyle Tyler to Triple-a El Paso.
Astros: Houston placed DH Yordan Alvarez on the injured list due to “health and safety protocols.” Manager Dusty Baker said Alvarez was with the team in Seattle and had not tested positive for COVID-19, but he was feeling under the weather. Alvarez has not played since the final day of the Astros opening series against the Angels, missing all games in Arizona. Baker said Alvarez will likely need a couple of days once he’s feeling well enough to be back with the team. Houston recalled IF Joe Perez from Double-a Corpus Christi.
Angels: OF Taylor Ward (groin) is expected to make his season debut on Saturday night. “He’s ready to roll,” manager Joe Maddon said. “We’re eager to get him back. He’s going to be a big part of the middle of our lineup.”
Rays: LHP Ryan Yarbrough (left groin tightness) could rejoin the Rays next week, manager Kevin Cash said. Yarbrough hasn’t pitched yet this season.
White Sox: Slugger Eloy Jiménez returned to the lineup in left field. He left Wednesday’s game against Seattle in the fifth inning after fouling a ball off his left ankle and sat out Thursday. … INF Josh Harrison (sore back) could return on Saturday, manager Tony La Russa said.
Giants: 2B Tommy Lastella (right Achilles inflammation), who has been on the 10-day injured list since April 4, has resumed baseball activities. Manager Gabe Kapler said Lastella is fielding grounders, hitting and running.
Guardians: 1B Yu Chang (illness) was placed on the IL with an undisclosed issue, allowing LHP Konnor Pilkington to be recalled from Triple-a Columbus mere hours after being optioned to the Clippers to make room for Josh Naylor.