Atlanta Hawks Steal Game Three at Home, Miami Heat Look to Bounce Back in Game Four

For the first two games of this series, Atlanta looked like they were playing with molasses on their sneakers. There was no fluidity, no motion, no sense of urgency apparent. The Hawks, who ended the regular season atop the league’s offensive efficiency list, frankly, couldn’t buy a basket in game one or two. That was in Miami.

Friday night’s Game Three in Atlanta was a different story entirely. The sellout crowd at State Farm Arena was frantic from the opening tip, showering Hawks star guard Trae Young with cheers and the visiting Miami Heat with a monsoon of boos. There was a genuine playoff atmosphere in the air as both Hawks players and fans understood the gravity of going down 3-0 in the series, a deficit that’s never been overcome in the league’s playoff history.

In what was the series’ best game so far, it all seemed to boil down to one play. Atlanta was able to overcome a double digit fourth quarter deficit to take a one-point lead with just four seconds left on the clock. Miami inbounded the ball from their sideline to Jimmy Butler, their stalwart leader with a knack for making the right play. Only this time, he didn’t.

Butler dribbled around the arc pursued by three Hawks defenders before heaving up a prayer from deep that clanked harmlessly off the rim. Trae Young raised his arms in triumph as the buzzer sounded and the roof nearly came off the gym as fans exploded with joy. The Hawks had come back from the land of the playoff dead.

The first half of all three games in this series have run like clockwork. Both teams get off to a sloppy start, then the flow starts to calm down as they settle themselves at the free throw line and we go into halftime just about even. This has been the formula for each game so far, with the Heat able to pull away in the latter halves of Games One and Two. The Hawks jumped out to a bit of a quicker start on Friday taking a seven-point lead into the half, perhaps due to playing on their home court where they’ve now won 21 of their last 24 games.

Immediately, it became clear that Atlanta was taking on a different approach offensively. Usually content to let Young pace their offense, Coach Nate McMillan centered his squad’s efforts on ball movement and quality three-point looks for role players who were freed up by Miami’s focus on Young.

Wingmen Bogdan Bogdanovic and Deandre Hunter both connected on multiple three’s for the Hawks on their way to 18 points and 17 points, respectively. Trae Young, not one to be outdone, poured in 24 points of his own and six of Atlanta’s players finished in double digit scoring figures. This even spread shows how much more effective the Hawks offense is when they’re sharing the ball.

Not only does the supporting cast get open looks, but so does Young, something that certainly contributed to his highest shooting percentage of the postseason on Friday. When the Miami Heat return to State Farm Arena on Sunday for Game Four, they will have adjustments to make if they want to go up 3-1 in the series.

That final play of the game where Butler forced up a contested fade away three, was telling of Miami’s entire performance Friday night. The opportunities were there, and it seemed they would execute 90 percent of the right play before falling victim to a head scratching mistake. A well-run offensive set resulting in a missed layup, 24 seconds of lockdown defense only to bail Atlanta out with a cheap foul. These were the scenes that replayed themselves over and over in Game Three. The Heat led the Hawks in assists, turnover differential, rebounding, and total threes in the game.

Three Heat players, Jimmy Butler, Max Strus, and Tyler Herro scored 20 points or more and the team finished with five players in double figures. It was a game in which Miami seemed like the better team all the way until the last four minutes of the game. Miami’s versatile big man, Bam Adebayo, believes that it was their lack of defensive intensity as the game wore on that cost them in the end.

“I feel like that was the reason why we were up so big. We were getting into the ball, being physical and just taking away, like, their easy gateways to get easy baskets. I feel like we let up a little bit” said Adebayo postgame. At one point, the Heat had even held a commanding 16-point lead with only about a quarter left to play, but never could land a deathblow on the scrappy Atlanta club.

Sunday night the two eastern conference contenders will go toe to toe again for Game Four as Atlanta tries to even the series at home against the top ranked Heat. Although the Hawks dramatically improved their performance in the paint, outscoring the Heat 48-46, they are still feeling the effects of missing center Clint Capela. But there is hope yet for the Hawks faithful as Capela’s injury status has been upgraded to questionable for Game Four. If Capela returns, it could swing the momentum towards Atlanta and their Game

Three victory will have bought them some precious time in their wait for the big man’s return. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, one of the great motivators in the league, will no doubt be lighting a fire under his team in an effort to right the ship and stay on their championship course. Expect Heat forward Jimmy Butler and Atlanta’s franchise player, Trae Young, to come out guns blazing in this pivotal Game Four battle. The action will get underway on Sunday night at 7 p.m. EST when things tip-off from State Farm Arena in Atlanta.