The Atlanta Hawks are hosting their southeast division rivals, Miami Heat, for the last and 8th spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The top seed Cleveland are waiting for the winner in the opening round. Atlanta just lost to the Orlando Magic and the Heat took care of the Chicago Bulls.
Miami’s shooting guard, Tyler Herro, really went off against The Chicago Bulls on the road in the play-in game earlier in the week (9th vs 10th seed). The Bulls were favored but Herro scored 38 points and the Miami Heat won the game 109-90. Herro made13 out of his19 shots in the game. He also had five rebounds, four dimes and one steal. Tyler hit three out of his seven attempts from behind the arc. Herro was easily the hero for Miami.
The forward Andrew Wiggins had 20 points, nine boards, two steals and two blocks. The big man Bam Adebayo had a double double with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Davion Mitchell added 15 points and nine assists off the bench. Kyle Anderson had some great minutes off the bench, with five made dimes, one block and steal each. Miami’s head coach, Eric Spoelstra, told nba.com the following after the game: “We are only halfway there. We do not have the luxury of winning one game and you are in”. Pelle Larsson is listed as probable on Miami's Injury report. Nikola Jovic and Kevin Love are listed as questionable
The Hawks did not play well in the loss to the Orlando Magic in the 7th vs 8th seed play-in game. The Hawks bench got outscored and that was the main reason for the loss. The Magic scored 57 points to 30 for Atlanta’s bench. The defence is suffering for the Hawks since both Clint Capela, Jalen Johnson, Kobe Bufkin and Larry Nance Jr are out due to injuries. The Magic won the game by 120-95.
Trea Young got expelled from the game due to two technical fouls. Young is on the injury list, he is as probable. He will surely play and only he can lead the Atlanta Hawks to the promised land (in this case the NBA playoffs). Trae had 28 points in the loss to OIrlando. George Niang had 15 points off the bench which was second best on the team for the Hawks. The head coach of the Atlanta Hawks, Quin Snyder, needs to come up with something in the matchup with the Miami Heat tonight.
The Australian Dyson Daniels is one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA. He will guard Tyler Herro. That is the potential key of the matchup. Atlanta’s shooting was awful against the Orlando Magic. If they don’t shoot more effectively and execute better versus the Miami Heat their season will be over tonight.
