Heat aiming to keep up regular-season success vs. Atlanta
The top-seeded Miami Heat and eighth-seeded Atlanta Hawks begin their best-of-7 first-round playoff series on Sunday at 1 p.m. at FTX Arena.
Here are five questions surrounding the matchup, with answers on what to expect in the Heat-Hawks series and a prediction:
The Heat had success against the Hawks during the regular season. What does that mean for the series?
It means the Heat is expected to win this series. The Heat was the much better team over the course of the regular season, when it also won three of its four matchups against the Hawks. Here’s a glance at what happened when the Heat and Hawks faced off ...
Game 1, Jan. 12: Even with its leading duo of
Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler out because of injuries, the Heat managed to earn a 115-91 win over the Hawks at State Farm Arena. Seven Heat players finished with double-digit points led by 21 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists from guard Tyler Herro. The Hawks shot just 37.8 percent from the field and 13 of 45 (28.9 percent) on threes to post its worst single-game offensive rating of the regular season. Atlanta was without starting center Clint Capela.
Game 2, Jan. 14: Just two nights after the teams’ first meeting of the season, the Heat got Butler back and again defeated the Hawks 124-118 at FTX Arena. With Adebayo still out, the Heat trailed the entire second half until tying the game with 3:34 to play. After totaling 99 points on 54.2 percent shooting in the first three quarters, the Hawks were limited to just 19 points on 30 percent shooting in the fourth quarter. Trae Young scored 20 points in the first three quarters, but didn’t make a field goal in the fourth quarter. The Hawks were again without Capela.
Game 3, Jan. 21: The Heat had both Adebayo and Butler but didn’t have Herro or Kyle Lowry in this one, falling to the Hawks 110-108 at State Farm Arena in the teams’ third meeting in a span of 10 days. Atlanta shot 55.9 percent from the field, 14 of 33 (42.4 percent) on threes and 20 of 24 (83.3 percent) from the foul line, as Young scored 28 points with the help of 12-of-15 shooting from the foul line. The Hawks were without Bogdan Bogdanovic and Danilo Gallinari.
Game 4, April 8: The teams’ final matchup of the season was just a week ago, as the Heat escaped with a 113-109 win over the Hawks at FTX Arena. This result came despite the Hawks having a lot more to play for, as the Heat entered with the East’s No. 1 playoff seed already clinched. The Heat, playing without starter P.J. Tucker, trailed by six points with 5:18 to play. But Miami closed the game on a 16-6 run to complete the comeback. The Heat overcame a 35-point performance from Young, who shot just 3 of 12 from the field in the second half. The Hawks were without John Collins and Lou Williams.
Overall: The Heat outscored the Hawks by a total score of 460-428, including by 8.3 points per 100 possessions in their four matchups.
How will the Heat try to contain Young?
Young was the NBA’s fourth-leading scorer with 28.4 points per game and ranked third with the 9.7 assists per game in the regular season. He became the second player in NBA history to finish a regular season as the league leader in both total points and assists.
The only players around the NBA with a higher usage rate (an estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while on the court) than Young this season were Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, Dallas’ Luka Doncic and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo. Young is at the center of everything the Hawks do on offense.
In four games against the Heat, Young averaged