The final play-in game in the Eastern Conference is now set. For the fifth and final time this season, the Atlanta Hawks are going to face the Miami Heat and the winner will extend their season by facing the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
When it comes to Miami, the Hawks are also 2-2 this season against the Heat, same as the Bulls, but the difference is that Atlanta has faced this version of the Heat three times already. Three of the four matchups against Miami have come since the trade deadline, and the Hawks are 1-2 against the version of Miami. They won an ugly 98-86 game in February, but lost by 22 and 12 in the other two games. If you want to get a sense of Atlanta’s struggles on defense with their front-court injuries, they allowed Miami to shoot 55% in both of the most recent losses to the Heat. Miami is not one of the better offensive teams in the league, similar to Orlando. However, Miami is always a strong defensive team under Erik Spoelstra, and that could pose the Hawks problems.
The Hawks will certainly have to play better than they did last night if they want to beat Miami and advance to the playoffs.
It is hard to find too many positive things to say about the Hawks’ performance last night. Before being ejected in the fourth quarter due to two technical fouls, Trae Young had a solid night with 28 points and six assists, but once again, the Magic’s size and length bothered Young and gave him problems. Mouhamed Gueye was solid in the game, finishing with 12 points and four rebounds. Not a spectacular night, but was tasked with guarding Paolo Banchero and played his role well.
The rest of the supporting cast for the Hawks played very poorly and was a huge reason the Hawks did not win. Zacccharie Risacher was 2-10 from the field and scored seven points. Onyeka Okongwu had 11 points and nine rebounds, and Dyson Daniels scored seven points. Caris LeVert had seven points on 3-11 shooting. Georges Niang had 15 points, and Dominick Barlow, Terance Mann, and Vit Krejci combined for eight points. The Orlando bench outscored the Hawks’ bench 57-30.
Another reason the Hawks lost was the inability to get fast-break points. Orlando had 19 fast-break points compared to only four for Atlanta. The Hawks needed to win the transition battle and make Orlando play with pace, but could not find a way to do that. The Hawks did not have a problem with turnovers, but were as bad on offense as you can be, shooting 38% from the field and 4-21 from three.
The Magic did not get big performances from their two stars, Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero (30 combined points on 10-28 shooting), but their supporting cast was awesome. Cole Anthony scored 26 points in 20 points, Anthony Black had 16 points on 6-7 shooting, and Wendell Carter Jr had 19 points and seven rebounds. Orlando also had a +12 advantage on the boards. The Hawks could not let the Orlando supporting cast beat them, but they did.
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