Heat holds on late, eliminates Atlanta Hawks and advances to second round of playoffs
It ultimately didn’t matter that the Heat was without the guy averaging 30.5 points per game in this playoff series. It didn’t matter that floor general Kyle Lowry wasn’t in uniform, either. And it certainly didn’t matter that Miami opened 1 for 11 on threes.
None of it mattered in the end, because the one constant in this series remained intact: a swarming, relentless, tireless Heat defense that exasperated Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks again on Tuesday night and catapulted Miami into the second round of the NBA playoffs.
That defense triggered a 17-0 Heat run late in the second quarter of Game 5, and the Hawks never led in the second half, losing the game 97-94 and losing the series 4-to-1.
Miami advanced to play the winner of the 76ers-Raptors series, which Philadelphia leads 3-2 heading into Thursday night’s Game 6 in Toronto. That second-round series will begin Monday night at FTX Arena.
Playing without Jimmy Butler, who was experiencing knee soreness, and Lowry (hamstring), the Heat trailed for much of the first half before unleashing that second-quarter stampede that began with two Hawks turnovers created by Miami’s full-court pressure under the Atlanta basket.
Max Strus scored off both of those turnovers, then hit two threes in a personal 10-0 spurt, igniting the FTX Arena crowd. By the time the run was done, Miami led 54-40.
Behind 35 points from De’Andre Hunter, the Hawks kept making furious second half pushes, including runs of 8-0 and 10-0. But Atlanta could never pull ahead.
The Hawks pulled as close as 95-93, before Victor Oladipo drove, drew a second defender and passed to Bam Adebayo for a dunk with 59 seconds left.
Young then made only one of two free throws and Hunter fouled out on Miami’s ensuing possession. But Strus missed a three, leaving Miami ahead three.
With a chance to tie the game, Danilo Gallinari missed a three with 6.5 seconds left. The Hawks retained possession with a timeout with five seconds left, but Miami’s defense pinned Gallinari in the corner, and Adebayo stole his pass, preserving the win.
“They double teamed the corner and I had no outlets,” Gallinari said. “They played smart defense.”
Oladipo (23 points), Adebayo (20 points), Tyler Herro (16) and Strus (15) provided much of the offense that was badly needed in the absence of Butler, the NBA’s second-leading scorer this postseason, and Lowry, who has averaged 15.3 points in 100 career playoff games.
“They have a hell of a team,” Hawks coach Nate McMillan said. “I have great respect for how they play. They bodied us up [on that last possession] and forced a pass inside. They blew that play up. Good defense by them.”
Erik Spoelstra said “this was just a really inspiring team win. Everybody that played had their fingerprints on this. We clearly had some adversity in this game, not having Kyle and Jimmy, and our group doesn’t even blink.”
Oladipo filled in for Butler with the starting group and scored eight quick points on four-for-four shooting, while showing burst and quickness on forays to the basket. He also hit three three-pointers, closing the night 8 for 16 from the field. And he chipped in three steals and three assists.
“A year ago today I was sitting in a dark room by myself and just broke down, not because I quit but because I was at the lowest point I could be at,” Oladipo said. “God has put me in this position today and I made the most of it.... A year ago today, I was waiting for my next surgery.”
Herro, coming off a 1 for 8 shooting performance in Game 3, shot 6 for 12 and had four assists.
Adebayo, who entered averaging 10.5 points in this series, was more aggressive offensively and hit 7 of his 11 shots, to go along with 11 rebounds.
And Strus scored 12 in the second quarter - on 5 for 5 shooting - and finished 6 for 12 from the field.
Miami is now 18-3 with Strus starting.
But the difference again was the Heat’s defense, which held the NBA’s sixth-highest scoring team to 97 points per game in this series, 17 points below Atlanta’s season average.
Trae Young, who scored more regular-season points than any other NBA player, again looked lost against a Heat defense that constantly harassed him.
Young shot 1 for 7 in the first half and finished the night with 11 points on 2 for 12 shooting (including 0 for 5 on threes), with six turnovers.
Not a single time in this series did Young reach his regular season scoring average of 28.4, which was fourth in the league.
Young said “for sure” this is the best a team has ever defended him. “The numbers would say that. I didn’t shoot well. I couldn’t get to certain places I normally get to.”
Young shot 1 for 12 with six turnovers in Game 1, had 10 turnovers in Game 2, scored the winning basket in Game 3, but shot 3 for 11 with five turnovers in Game 4 and played poorly again on Tuesday. His frustration was evident when he picked up a technical foul midway through the fourth quarter of Game 5.
“We knew to stop them that we had to stop Trae,” Strus said. “So we took that personal.”
Gabe Vincent (nine points, four assists, one turnover) persistently pestered Young, as he has this entire series, preventing the All Star guard from getting open looks.
After shooting 37.4 percent on threes this season - second best in the league behind Miami - Atlanta shot 32 percent on threes in this series, including 32 on Tuesday (8 for 25).
Miami forced 19 turnovers on Tuesday.
“They force you to an isolation game,” McMillan said. “They try to keep you out of the paint.”
Adebayo, Vincent, Butler, PJ Tucker, Lowry, Strus and Caleb Martin were all outstanding defensively in this series.
Tucker left with his second foul with 5:03 left in the first quarter and then went to the bench with his fifth foul 33 seconds into the fourth. But Miami outscored the Hawks by 14 when he was on the floor.
Martin left in the second quarter with a wrist injury before returning in the third and played well (10 points, four rebounds), even though his hamstring appeared to be bothering him at times.
Erik Spoelstra went nine deep, but Dewayne Dedmon logged only two minutes.
The sterling defense was needed on a night that Miami shot just 22.6 percent (7 for 31) on threes.
But the Hawks couldn’t convert those Heat misses into transition baskets. After not scoring a single fast break point in Game 4, the Hawks scored just two in Game 5.
The Hawks played without injured forward Bogdan Bogdanovic - their third leading scorer in the series - and lost Clint Capela to a knee injury in the third quarter.
This story was originally published April 26, 2022 at 9:56 PM.
