Giving up a 26-4 run in the second quarter and never recovering, the No. 8-seed Hawks lost Game 4, 110-86, to the No. 1-seed Heat on Sunday night at State Farm Arena.
Next up, Game 5 is Tuesday night in Miami, a must-win if Atlanta wants to keep the series alive.
Below are some takeaways from the loss:
1. This loss drops the Hawks to 1-3 in the series, meaning they’ll face an elimination game Tuesday in Miami. It’ll be a tough road environment to get a win in, and if they lose, their season will be over. If they win, they’ll continue to face must-win games for the rest of the series because Miami already has three wins (and needs four to win the series).
2. Although the Hawks (narrowly) made up for giving up a 21-0 run in the third quarter of Game 3, they couldn’t do something similar in Game 4. The Heat ended the second quarter on a 26-4 run to go up 55-41 at halftime, winning the second quarter 30-15. The Hawks shot 22.7% from the field (5-for-22) in the second quarter, with the Heat not committing a turnover in the entire first half certainly helping their case. They gave up five 3-pointers to Miami in the third quarter and lost control of the game, entering the fourth quarter down 19. With 4:18 left in the fourth, Jimmy Butler (36 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, four steals) capitalized with a dunk after intercepting a bad pass by Trae Young to stretch the Heat’s lead to 24.
3. Young couldn’t get going in this game, held to nine points and shooting 3-for-11 from the field (3-for-10 from 3-point range, 0-for-1 FT), with five assists and five turnovers (after the game, Young mentioned his foot was sore and rolled when Gabe Vincent stepped on him). He wasn’t the only shooter who struggled for the Hawks, with wing Bogdan Bogdanovic (four points, 1-for-6 FG, 0-for-3 from 3-point range, 2-4 FT) and wing Kevin Huerter (four points, 1-for-7 FG, 1-for-5 from 3-point range, 1-for-2 FT) not getting anything to fall, either.
The Hawks also had a poor showing at the line, shooting 11-for-20 FT (55%) compared with 17-for-21 (81%) for the Heat, and though they shot 35.7% from beyond the arc (15-for-42), six of those came in the first quarter. De’Andre Hunter led the Hawks with 24 points.
4. With the Hawks struggling shooting, it allowed the Heat to pack the paint and take that away, with the Heat tallying 48 points in the paint to the Hawks’ 26. The Heat brought the pressure on defense, and the Hawks simply weren’t able to penetrate.
“If you’re watching the game, you see that they have five people in the paint when I have the ball, so they’re doing a great job of showing help and not letting me get into the paint,” Young said. “When I’m driving, if I try to drive by somebody, they’re sending a double and forcing me to kick it to my teammates.”
5. Missing the first three games of the series with a right knee hyperextension, Clint Capela was available to play and started in this game. Although getting Capela back had the potential to give the Hawks a boost, he didn’t have his usual bounce or motor, finishing with two points and seven rebounds. Miami outrebounded the Hawks 48-41 and had 26 second-chance points to Atlanta’s 10.
Stat of the game: 48-26 (the margin of points in the paint, with the Heat limiting the Hawks)
Star of the game: Butler (led the Heat in scoring with 36 points and 10 rebounds, with four steals and four assists
Quotable: “They basically kept the pressure on all of us, and tonight we just were not able to penetrate their defense.” (Hawks coach Nate McMillan on Miami’s defense)
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