A pair of likely Eastern Conference play-in teams will square off on Thursday, when the Miami Heat host the Atlanta Hawks.
The seventh-place Hawks (35-37) hold a four-game lead over the 10th-place Heat (31-41), while No. 8 Orlando sits a half-game behind Atlanta and No. 9 Chicago sits a game ahead of Miami.
Atlanta lost ground on Tuesday, as the Hawks fell in Houston to the Rockets, 121-114, and Orlando picked up a seven-point road win over the Charlotte Hornets and Miami topped the Golden State Warriors, 112-86.
The Hawks trailed by as many as 25 points late in the third quarter Tuesday before seeing their three-game winning streak come to an end. Atlanta’s rally cut its deficit to four in the final quarter, showing a fight that it hopes will carry over into Thursday.
“We were right there,” Hawks head coach Quin Snyder said. “(Houston) had to make plays to beat us down the stretch. I thought we found some real rhythm, which was good for us tonight and will be good for us going forward.”
In defeat, Trae Young finished with 19 points and 12 assists, marking his third straight double-double and increasing his league-leading assists count to 11.4 per game. Young, who paces Atlanta with 24.1 points per game, became the first player in the NBA to reach 1,500 points and 750 assists in a single season since Russell Westbrook in 2019.
On the other side of the ball, Atlanta’s budding star Dyson Daniels continues to set franchise and league marks, defensively. Daniels leads the league with 3.1 steals per game, an overwhelming edge on second-place Kris Dunn’s 1.8. With his four thefts on Tuesday, Daniels is on pace to become the first player since Alvin Robertson in 1990-91 to average three steals per game over a season.
After losing 10 straight games — the Heat’s longest skid since 2007-08 — Miami enters play winners in two in a row as it hopes to muster a late season run to the playoffs. Tuesday marked the return to Miami for former disgruntled star Jimmy Butler, but the night belonged to the Heat, who allowed a season-low 86 points.
Miami’s Bam Adebayo’s 27 points were paired with stifling defense on the smaller Butler, which came as no surprise to head coach Erik Spoelstra.
“That’s not even something that we did just for this game,” Spoelstra said of the matchup. “Over the last six weeks, Bam has been guarding whoever the best wing is, and he has taken on this challenge. It’s a new defensive chapter in his prowess, but we haven’t been winning so nobody notices. But it’s about his commitment to doing a lot of the tough things.”
Tyler Herro has scored 20 points or more in four of five games and leads Miami with 23.4 ppg. Andrew Wiggins follows with 20.2 ppg, while Adebayo chips in 17.6 points and 9.7 rebounds per contest.
Atlanta has taken two of three against Miami this season and will look to clinch its first season-series over the Heat since the 2020-21 campaign.
–Field Level Media
