By AR Shaw, Atlanta Daily World, NNPA
Atlanta Hawks were considered an underdog going into Tuesday matchup against the Miami Heat in the NBA Play-In Tournament. In the scenario, the winner would advance to the playoffs while the loser would need to play one more game and win on Friday to advance.
Most of the national sports pundits picked the Miami Heat to take victory. ESPN’s 17 NBA writers all picked the Heat over the Hawks who enter the game with a 41-41 record.
But the Hawks hit the Heat early, jumping ahead to a 24-point lead in the second quarter. The bench would push the effort with all four players scoring in double-digits.
Defensively, the Hawks controlled the boards by out-rebounding the Heat 63-39. The Hawks’ Clint Capela would secure 21 rebounds to lead all players.
Offensively, Trae Young led the way for the Hawks by scoring 25 points and Dejounte Murray followed with 18 points.
With the 116-105 victory, the Hawks will now face off against the Boston Celtics in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
“Obviously, Boston has a really good team, but I haven’t really looked like too far ahead,” Young said following the game. “I mean, obviously, I’ve watched them all year playing; they’ve been playing really well. But I was really focused on tonight and making sure we won. I know Jimmy (Butler) guaranteed a dub, so I was really focused on making sure that didn’t happen.”
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