Trae Young threw the Atlanta Hawks to a win over the Miami Heat with his game winner and cut the playoff series to 1-2. At 111:110 in a very exciting game, the game tipped in the direction of the top seed in the 3rd quarter before the Hawks finally found an answer.
Atlanta Hawks (8) – Miami Heat (1) 111:110 (BOXSCORE), Serie: 1-2
Miami scored 21 unanswered points and earned a double-digit lead. According to Elias Sports, it was the longest run in the last 25 postseasons. But the Hawks, who had won 20 of their last 23 home games, came back. The final quarter went to the home side with 34:25, Young, who had no luck with his shot for a long time, scored 10 of his 24 points (6/14 FG, 8 assists) in the final section, including the floater to the final score 4.4 seconds before the end.
He received important support from De’Andre Hunter (20, 7/13 FG), Bogdan Bogdanovic (18, 4/9 3FG) and Delon Wright (13), who, coming off the bench, stayed perfectly clear of the field (6/6 FG). Kevin Huerter scored 13 points but only sunk one of his eight three-pointers. The rate of 37.5 percent as a team was still significantly better than that of the guests (31.1). The same applied to the quota from the field (51.2 vs. 44.2).
The Heat did a great job on the boards for a long time (45:36 rebounds in the end), but failed to bring about a preliminary decision in the series. 20 points from Max Strus (5/10 3FG) and Jimmy Butler (8/20 FG, 10 rebounds), who missed the last shot of the game, were not enough. Tyler Herro put in a strong performance coming off the bench (24). Kyle Lowry (6, 2/7 FG) left the game after three quarters due to a left leg injury. Bam Adebayo (13 and 11) hit a double-double.
The tip-off of the game had to be postponed after a suspicious package was spotted outside the arena. The spectators had to leave the hall for about an hour, the package was examined by explosives experts, classified as harmless and removed. The encounter could then begin – with a delay of 55 minutes. The Hawks continued to miss Clint Capela (knee) and Lou Williams (back). Compared to game 2 there were no changes in the starting lineups.
Adebayo provided the first highlight with a dunk after a pass from Butler (45 points in game 2), a short time later Butler sank a layup with a foul and then curled up on the ground. However, he was able to continue playing and immediately grabbed a steal that resulted in a clear path foul. The Heat defended heavily, resulting in easy points and an 8-point lead. However, since Miami couldn’t do anything from a distance (2/12 in Q1), the Hawks were back in the game after an 8-0 run. Danilo Gallinari, who only got 2 points in the second game, already had 6 points: 24:22 Miami after twelve minutes.
Heat gambled away the lead – Young hits Gamwinner
A three-pointer from Huerter gave the Hawks the first lead at the beginning of the second quarter, it was the hosts’ first successful long-range shot. Atlanta’s body language was right, Bogdanovic and Delon Wright brought energy off the bench. Lowry has already had three fouls. The Hawks had never led the series higher than 37-31. In this phase, Herro was the sole entertainer for the Heat (15 points in HZ 1). Atlanta sank three quick threes (+11), including a very deep one from Young. From the field, the Hawks scored more than ten percent better than their opponents, so they led by +7 (61:54) at the break.
The Heat started aggressively in the second half, Butler’s first points since the first quarter quickly moved to -2, and the game was level again in the middle of the quarter after a Strus three-pointer. Lowry laid down one great hustle play by Adebayo from downtown to. And things just kept getting worse for the Hawks. The guests scored 21 points in a row, sometimes hair-raising mistakes by Atlanta led to numerous fast break points. After almost six minutes, Hunter once again made something countable from the corner. The final scenes of the quarter went to the Hawks (9-1 run), who brought the game back into single digits. 77:85.
The start of the final quarter belonged to the Heat, who benefited from offensive rebounds. Dewayne Dedmon dusted off, Robinson added a threesome. But the energy was right in Atlanta, and there was a lot of work under the boards, especially in the bench trio, which also included Onyeka Okongwu. Bogdanovic shortened from the corner to -3 (7:0 run), Herro and Bogdanovic exchanged more three-pointers. Young equalized with a three-point game (101:101).
Threes from Strus and Young followed before Okongwu (9 and 6) delivered another big play. After Bogdanovic missed a shot, he grabbed the offensive rebound and sunk the ball with a foul. But the last word was far from spoken, Butler scored from outside, Young was sent to the line and showed no nerves, Tucker sank the three from the corner to make it 110:109. Huerter missed, butler too. Young’s floater put the Hawks back in front with 4.4 seconds left. Butler missed the last chance and only got rid of a difficult throw.
NBA Playoffs – Heat vs. Hawks: The Series at a Glance (2-1)
| Spiel | Datum | time | Heim | away | result |
| 1 | 17. April | 19 o’clock | Miami Heat | Atlanta Hawks | 115:91 |
| 2 | 20. April | 1:30 | Miami Heat | Atlanta Hawks | 115:105 |
| 3 | 23. April | 1 O ‘clock | Atlanta Hawks | Miami Heat | 111:110 |
| 4 | 25. April | 1 O ‘clock | Atlanta Hawks | Miami Heat | – |
| 5 | 27. April | TBD | Miami Heat | Atlanta Hawks | – |
| 6* | 29. April | TBD | Atlanta Hawks | Miami Heat | – |
| 7* | 1st May | TBD | Miami Heat | Atlanta Hawks | – |
*if necessary