The Hawks have one more chance to secure a spot in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. In order to punch their ticket to a matchup against the East-leading Cleveland Cavaliers, the Hawks will have to beat the Heat first.
The Hawks and Heat split their season series against each other, both taking the matchups in their respective home arenas. But with this fifth meeting, the Hawks have an expectation they won’t be facing the same team they saw toward the end of the regular season.
“As many times as you play a team over the course of the year, teams evolve, and I think they’re playing right now as well as anyone,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said Thursday. “Really, the last time we played in Miami, I thought they’d really started to play at a high level. Similar to our situation, when you have a trade at the deadline, your team, grows, however that evolution occurs.”
The Heat, who entered the Play-In Tournament as the Eastern Conference’s 10th seed, beat the Bulls (ninth seed) Wednesday night in Chicago, 109-90. Miami jumped out quickly with a 15-5 run before turning the score into a 71-47 lead by the end of the first half. The Heat never gave up their double-digit lead, holding the Bulls under 100 points.
“I think the key thing you know in games like this is, you focus on your preparation and your execution as much as you can,” Snyder said. “And then you compete. I think in the end, you do everything you can from that standpoint, in preparing. And then ultimately, teams have to make plays. Players have to make plays, and sometimes those plays are making a shot. Sometimes they’re diving on the floor, getting the big rebound. It comes in many forms.”
The Heat often have forced their opponents to slow their pace, where they’ll have to grind out a win. Like the Magic, the Heat play a physical brand of basketball that means the Hawks will look to keep their wits about them to manufacture their success.
That’s not unfamiliar territory to the Hawks, who averaged 109.8 points across the four games played against the Heat this season. The Hawks moved the ball fairly well, averaging 29.8 assists to 49.7% overall shooting and 37.2% shooting from deep. They took relatively good care of the ball, too, averaging 16 turnovers per game.
But coming off Tuesday’s loss to the Magic, where they made only four 3-pointers in 48 minutes, the Hawks will have to get back to executing their brand of basketball to have success.
“Every team is better when they get shots,” Snyder said. “And I think the key thing is trying to get good ones. We didn’t have enough attempts. And part of that is because, when your opponent does a really good job closing out and you’re not able to break the defense down, there’s ways that different teams generate open looks, and I think sometimes there’s something psychological, or maybe someone’s not as relaxed or not as confident. You can address all those things to the best of your ability. But I think as much as anything, the best way to make shots is to get good shots and keep shooting.”
So, with their season on the line, the Hawks keep the importance of the game at the front of their minds, but they try not to put pressure on their young players.
“Yeah, these games aren’t like the regular season,” Hawks guard Trae Young said. “Obviously, you want to play every game like it’s a win-or-go-home game, but this is really that. We know what it is, and this is (one) you got to leave everything out there. I think that’s the thing. And you don’t want to put too much pressure on the young guys and things like that.
“So, you don’t talk to them and talk to them about how big the game is and all that all the time. I think they know. I think Zacch knows. I think the younger guys know. So they’ll be ready, and they’ll be focused. They’ve been focused since we’ve gotten back, and I think they will be tomorrow, too.”
Prediction
Hawks will beat the Heat with breakout games from Caris LeVert, as well as limiting some of the Heat’s key shooters.
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