Atlanta Hawks vs. Miami Heat Play-In Preview
The Atlanta Hawks head south to take on the Miami Heat in the 7 vs. 8 matchup in the opening game of the Play-In, with a spot in the playoffs on the line.
The Miami Heat and the Atlanta Hawks will tip off the opener of the Play-In Tournament on Tuesday night in the 7 vs. 8 matchup. The winner will advance to the playoffs automatically, while the loser will get another chance to advance out of the Play-In against the winner of the 9 vs. 10 matchup the following night.
First round rematch from last year
The Miami Heat are a year removed from finishing as the regular season champs in the East, and making a run to the Conference Finals before losing to the Boston Celtics in Game 7 at the Kaseya Center, formely known as FTX Arena.
It’s a rematch of last year’s first round playoff series in which the Heat took care of the Hawks in five games. This year it will be a one-off match up with the winner moving on to play the 2 seed in the East, the Boston Celtics.
Eric Spoelstra’s squad is almost exactly the same as the team that was a game away from making the NBA Finals last year, but a combination of wear and tear on top of a team that is aging complicated things for the Heat this season.
It was far from a dream start for the Heat who began the season winning just two of their first seven games, and that was a harsh dose of reality for what was to come for the rest of the season.
Hawks hang on to top 8 spot
The Hawks have been trying to recapture that magic of the season a few years ago in which Trae Young carried Atlanta to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks. This year, just reaching the postseason was a feat in a season that saw the front office part ways with coach Nate McMillan during the All-Star Break.
This was supposed to be a season in which the Hawks were competing with the likes of Boston and Milwaukee, or at least that was the hope when they brought in former San Antonio Spur, Dejounte Murray. It took time for Murray and Young to click in the same back court, but the duo are in rarified air having both averaged 20+ points and 6+ assists.
McMillan got the ax as a result of the Hawks starting 29-30, and shortly after Quin Snyder was named the new coach in Atlanta. In 21 games on the sidelines he has gone 10-11, but locked up an 8 seed heading into the Play-In which gives them two chances to reach the playoffs, although they will be facing either the Bucks or the Celtics on the other end of the Play-In if they make it though.
Things were tougher in the East this year, as the Conference leading Bucks got healthy and made a massive run towards the end of the season. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and the Celtics have another year under their belt and look like they have one of the most complete teams in the league. The Sixers are in their now or never year, while the Cavs and Knicks have splashed on the scene while the Nets made a massive clean house operation that shipped Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving out of Brooklyn.
Tale of the tape
The Hawks finished the regular season as the third highest scoring team in the league at 118.4 ppg, behind the Golden State Warriors and the top ranked Sacramento Kings. Trae Young leads Atlanta in scoring, getting 26.2 points an outing while Murray is second with 20.5 ppg and they have a top five rebounder in Clint Capela who drags down 11 boards a game. The only problem is the Hawks can’t stop anybody. They give up 118.1 points a game which is worst among all teams that have made the post season.
Miami on the other hand is the team that scores the least amount of points in the league at just 109.5 ppg, but they are the second best defensive team in the league, allowing just 109.8 ppg to their opponents. Jimmy Butler leads the Heat with 22.9 points a game, and Bam Adebayo completes the inside out duo for Miami, chipping in 20.4 ppg and 9.2 ppg while Tyler Herro adds 20.1 an outing.
Head-to-head
These two teams have met four times this year, and the Heat won three of those four games. The opening matchup came on Thanksgiving weekend when the Heat went to Atlanta and beat the Hawks 106-98 thanks to Bam Adebayo’s 32 and 8 rebounds. Atlanta got their only win over the Heat in January when they beat Miami 121-113 when Dejounte Murray put up 28 points. The Heat won the final two games of the head to head series when they played in a back to back series at the beginning of last month.