Jimmy Butler scores 45 to lead Heat past Hawks for 2-0 lead in first-round playoff series
Before Game 2, Trae Young hinted that the Atlanta Hawks would take a more physical approach after losing Game 1 by 24 points.
“When a bully’s trying to bully you, you don’t just let them. You have to bully them back,” Young said to reporters.
The Hawks and their star guard did just that to muck up a game that included 50 fouls and 34 turnovers, but Jimmy Butler still led the Miami Heat to a 115-105 win on Tuesday night at FTX Arena. Miami now holds a commanding 2-0 lead in the first-round playoff series.
The Heat is obviously in a good spot after winning the first two games of the series, and history confirms that. Miami owns a perfect 17-0 all-time record in playoff series that it has taken a 2-0 series lead in.
With Heat starting center Bam Adebayo battling foul trouble all night and starting point guard Kyle Lowry finishing with just nine points on 2-of-8 shooting, Butler delivered a huge performance. Butler set a new playoff career-high 45 points on 15-of-25 shooting from the field, 4-of-7 shooting on threes and 11-of-12 shooting from the foul line, to go with five rebounds and five assists in 39 minutes.
The Hawks hung around in a back-and-forth first half that included 13 lead changes and 11 ties, as the Heat entered halftime with just a two-point lead.
The Heat looked to break the game open with a 24-12 run in the first seven minutes of the third quarter to pull ahead by 14. Miami entered the fourth quarter with an 11-point lead.
Butler was the catalyst behind the third-quarter push with 15 points in the period on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 shooting from the foul line.
The Hawks did not go away quietly, though, despite the Heat extending its lead to 16 with 8:50 play. Atlanta used a 20-8 run to cut the deficit to just four with 4:24 left.
After Adebayo completed a dunk to push the Heat’s lead back up to six with 3:42 left in the fourth quarter, Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic made a contested corner three-pointer to bring Miami’s lead down to three with 3:15 remaining.
But Butler had a strong response to the Hawks’ late-game run, driving for an uncontested dunk, making a three-pointer from the wing and converting on a layup to go on a personal 7-0 run to put the Heat ahead by 10 points with 1:20 to play and seal the victory.
The Hawks made adjustments to create more space for Young to operate and he was better after scoring a season-low eight points on just 1-of-12 shooting in Game 1. Young finished with 25 points on 10-of-20 shooting from the field, six rebounds and seven assists on Tuesday, but the Heat still made him work for those points as he shot just 2 of 10 on threes and committed 10 turnovers.
Adebayo was limited to just 24 minutes because of foul trouble. He recorded nine points, four rebounds and three assists. Heat sixth man Tyler Herro scored 15 points off the bench.
The Heat outscored the Hawks 25-11 from the free-throw line.
All the while, the tension between the two teams continued to grow on Tuesday as it often does during a playoff series.
After Butler and Young went nose-to-nose for a few seconds and had to be separated in Game 1, Lowry and Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter exchanged words in the second quarter of Game 2. The officials also reviewed a swipe from Hunter that looked to make contact with Lowry’s face a few minutes later, but it was ruled a common foul as different players from both teams exchanged words throughout the night.
The series now shifts to Atlanta for the next two games. Game 3 is on Friday at 7 p.m. at State Farm Arena.
This story was originally published April 19, 2022 at 10:10 PM.
