MIAMI – A second-quarter meltdown spelled trouble for the Hawks, and despite De’Andre Hunter’s best efforts they couldn’t come all the way back in a 97-94 loss to the Heat in Game 5 of the first round of the NBA playoffs Tuesday at FTX Arena.
The No. 8 seed Hawks’ season comes to a close, while the No. 1 seed Heat will advance to the second round.
Below are some takeaways from the loss:
1. This victory means the Heat wins the series, 4-1, and the Hawks’ offseason has arrived. Although the eighth seed is expected to lose to the one seed, this finish feels disappointing given the Hawks went to the Eastern Conference finals last year with a nearly identical roster and given the manner in which the Hawks lost, unable to sustain any kind of rhythm against the Heat’s smothering defense despite owning the No. 2 offense in the regular season.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
2. De’Andre Hunter battled until nearly the very end, but fouled out with 41.6 seconds to go and the Hawks trailing 97-94, taking away the one player for Atlanta who had anything going. Hunter scored five straight points to make it a two-point game with 1:14 left, and finished with a game-high 35 points and 11 rebounds, plus three steals and two assists. He scored 18 points in the fourth quarter alone, which the Hawks won 30-22.
Without Hunter, the Hawks struggled in the final minute. They got the ball back out of a timeout with 5.2 seconds to play, but couldn’t get a shot off, with Danilo Gallinari (12 points) turning the ball over.
3. Jimmy Butler had been the best player in this series, but missed this game with right knee inflammation (Kyle Lowry missed both Games 4 and 5 with a left hamstring strain). It seemed like that may give the Hawks an opening, but Victor Oladipo started and more than pulled his weight scoring the ball, leading the Heat with 23 points, plus three assists and three steals.
For the Hawks, Bogdan Bogdanovic sat out Game 5 with right knee soreness, and center Clint Capela played 19 minutes (two points, eight rebounds) before exiting with a right knee injury.
4. It was not a good look for the Hawks to crumble when the Heat started pressing at the end of the first half, with Atlanta struggling to even inbound the ball. The Hawks racked up six turnovers from the 5:37 mark of the second quarter to halftime as the Heat went on a 20-4 run, a run similar to the 26-4 run that put the Hawks in a bind in the second quarter of their Game 4 loss. Atlanta went from being up four with 5:11 left in the second to trailing by 12 at halftime. Miami’s Max Strus (15 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals) led the charge with 12 points in the second quarter alone.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The Hawks finished with 19 turnovers total.
5. Trae Young continued to struggle in this series, held to 11 points, shooting 2-for-12 from the field, 0-for-5 from 3-point range and 7-for-9 from the line, adding eight rebounds, six assists and six turnovers. With 5:30 to play and the Hawks down eight, Strus grabbed the ball out of Young’s hands for a steal, with Young arguing with the referee and given a technical foul at a supremely inopportune time.
Stat of the game: 54-28 (the margin by which the Heat dominated the paint)
Star of the game: Oladipo (started in Butler’s absence and led the Heat in scoring with 23 points)
Quotable: “I think it just shows that we fought all year, and fought to the end.” (Young on reflecting on the Hawks’ season and the adversity they’ve faced)
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