The Miami Heat controlled game one of their first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks from start to finish on Sunday afternoon at FTX Arena. They won by 24 points in the end and dominated most aspects of the game. I’ll look at game one and then preview the rest of the series and what game one does to set the tone for the series.
You can find other NBA Playoff previews here.
Miami Heat-Atlanta Hawks Game One Recap And Series Preview
Game One Recap – Miami Heat Victory
As mentioned earlier, the Heat dominated this game. They shot 52.4% from the field and 47.4% from three, and had a whopping 35 assists compared to Atlanta’s 16. The team led by as many as 32 points at one point before winning by 24. Duncan Robinson went 8-9 from three, a franchise playoff record, and 9-for-10 overall, and led all scorers with 27 points. Jimmy Butler had 21 points and P.J. Tucker added 16 of his own. But as good as the Heat were on offense, the story was their defense. They held the Hawks to just 38.7% shooting from the field and a dismal 27.8% from three. Star Point Guard Trae Young was held to only 8 points and only one made field goal.
Series Preview
If the Heat continue to play as they did in game one, then they will probably sweep the Hawks. Atlanta is a better team than their record and game one performance show, so perhaps that won’t happen. The key, of course, to the Hawks turning things around and potentially winning the series, not to mention just making it competitive, is Young. Atlanta clearly does not function well when he is off. Including Sunday’s game, the Hawks are 2-7 since December in games where Young scores less than 20 points. He averages 28.4 points per game, which is 4th in the NBA. He needs to get going if the Hawks are to have a chance.
The biggest problem is that the Heat have the advantage in pretty much every category. They have an eventual Hall of Fame head coach in Erik Spoelstra, who should win Coach Of The Year this season. They have Bam Adebayo and Tucker in the frontcourt. Butler, Robinson, and Max Strus are on the wing. Kyle Lowry and Tyler Herro are in the backcourt. The team is full of talent and the team is finally mostly healthy.
That is not to say that the Hawks don’t have a lot of talent, because they do. Other than Young they have guys like Danilo Gallinari, who led the Hawks with 17 points on Sunday, as well as John Collins and De’Andre Hunter. So the Hawks have plenty of talent and are more than capable of winning a couple of games in this series. As they showed us on Sunday, however, the Heat are just a great basketball team and will probably prove to be too much for this young Hawks squad.
Final Prediction: Miami Heat over Atlanta Hawks In Five
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