Miami Heat (4-1) is already in the second round of the Eastern playoffs. And the Atlanta Hawks are already on vacation. the duel of the Southeast drives the favorite and sends last season’s Conference finalist to the summer, some Hawks for which nothing has really gone particularly well at any time of a season that began with very high aspirations, and the elite of the East as a goal, and ends without pain or glory, with his feet in the playoffs as a lesser evil and after going through the purgatory of play in, to which they arrived as ninth and where they had to eliminate the Hornets and Cavaliers.
The Heat, the best team in the East in the regular season, now awaits a rival with renewed interest: it seemed that it would be the Philadelphia 76ers, but the resurrection of the Raptors and the injury that has martyred Joel Embiid (it is difficult to think that both things are not going well part united) opens new cabals. There, from the next round, things will get more serious for a team armed enough not to suffer against these Hawks who played without Bogdan Bogdanovic (and with John Collins under minimum) and who did not know how to take advantage of a situation that seemed ideal to extend the series: Kyle Lowry was absent again due to his muscular problem and Jimmy Butler was absent at the last minute due to knee discomfortan issue to watch closely in the coming days.
Even without them, without her back court starter, the Heat went ahead with the match (97-94). even so, Trae Young played with the lights out, suffocated by Erik Spoelstra’s defensive doctrine, an expert in breaking the will of rival stars. In a game with horrendous stretches, the discipline of the Heat prevented Trae from picking up the pace, going on a roll: 11 points and 6 assists for 6 turnovers, 2/12 shooting and 0/5 triples. In the series, more losses (30) than baskets (22) and an average of 13.3 points in the four losses of his team. Just 77 points in five games on 32% shooting. And in the last two, since the promising 2-1 after the first match in Atlanta, 5/24 and 11 assists for 11 turnovers. The pincers of the Heat suffocated the only variant that could mess up the tie: Trae’s talent.
The Heat knew that they were not going to have anything left over and applied themselves in an attrition battle that changed with a 17-0 run in the second quarter (from 37-40 to 54-40 just before the break). A mattress that they dosed during a second part in which they controlled the pulls of the Hawks, frayed and guided by De’Andre Hunter (35 points, 11 rebounds), who put the game in one fist (95-93) before being fouled out. The Heat scored their last basket with a minute to go, a dunk by Adebayo after a good assist from Oladipo, and spent the rest of the time defending. The Hawks had two attacks to tie but they didn’t get anything clean. In the last, Gallinari lost the ball with a meaningless pass after being cornered in a corner. End of the tie.
Adebayo (20 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists) acted as anchor Y Oladipo (23 points) was a reliable source of points when no one else seemed capable of scoring. Strus (15) made the 3s that missed between Duncan Robinson (0/5) and Tyler Herro (0/4, 16 points). Without Lowry and especially without Butler, the Heat understood that it was a matter of minimums, and so they won. It wasn’t pretty, but it was extremely important. Now, days of rest and waiting for a rival. Y in Atlanta, vacations with a bitter taste and doubts about the project that seemed unimaginable last summer. But this is the NBA: tempus fugit.