2 weeks Ago By Jerry Harkins, Total Apex Sports
The 8th seed was up for grabs in the NBA Play-In Tournament when the Miami Heat took on the Atlanta Hawks for the right to face the No. 1 seed Cavaliers. Tyler Herro of the Heat looked to continue the dominant offensive performance he has been having in the Play-In Tournament.
Trae Young of the Hawks had plans to send the Heat home for the season. Let’s get into the action to see who wins this Play-In Tournament matchup. First Half Recap The Heat would jump out to a 10-0 lead to start the first quarter of the Play-In Tournament.
Young would put the Hawks on the board at the 9 minute making two free throws after an Andrew Wiggins foul. The first quarter would mostly be a Heat show. The Hawks fans let them know they were not pleased with the 33-24 first-quarter deficit.
The second quarter was a stalemate with both teams scoring 29 points a piece. The Heat would take a 17-point lead at the 8:31 mark of the game when Haywood Highsmith hit a three on the assist from Herro. The Hawks would crawl back before the half ended after Caris LeVert made a 24-foot three with the assist going to Trae Young.
The halftime score would be 62-53 with the Heat leading in this Play-In Tournament game. The Second Half and OT Young would help the Hawks tie the game in the fourth quarter. At the 9:40 mark in the fourth, Dyson Daniels hits a three to pull the Hawks within two of the Heat.
In the next possession, Miami’s Bam Adebayo missed a 23-foot jump shot, but Highsmith grabbed the offensive board. Terrance Mann would finally tie the game at 88 with 8:10 to go. The rest of the fourth quarter would be a back-and-forth affair with neither team able to gain a substantial lead.
The clock would eventually strike zero with both teams scoring 106. When overtime started, the Heat were ready to play with Herro splashing the bottom of the net with a three after a Young turnover. The score was 109-106 after the Herro three but in the next possession, Young drove to hit a 10-foot floater making it 109-108 with 3:54 left in OT.
The star of OT would take over now. Davion Mitchell hit a 26-foot three-pointer to make it a 112-108 affair. Young turned it over again with a traveling call the following possession.
Mitchell would capitalize hitting another three making it 115-108. The Hawks would not go away after a two-point score by the Heat. The Hawks would drain two threes making it a 117-114 game.
One of those Hawks threes was a Young step back from 27 feet out with 1:55 left in OT. Herro would seal the deal hitting a three at the 1:41 mark. Well, I guess the real seal of the game would come when Mitchell hit his third three of OT with only 24.
7 seconds left. That three would make it 123-114. Atlanta missed a three on its next possession.
The Heat grabbed the defensive rebound to win the NBA Play-In Tournament and move on as the 8th seed in the NBA Playoffs . Final Thoughts The Heat became the first 10 seed to make the NBA Playoffs out of the Play-In Tournament. The Heat will battle the 1st seed Cleveland Cavaliers in a best-of-seven series.
The regular season series went to the Cavs with a 2-1 advantage. This should be a great playoff series. I see the Cavs moving on with a 4-0 sweep of the Heat.
Stay tuned to Total Apex Sports for all the latest NBA Playoff news. This article first appeared on Total Apex Sports and was syndicated with permission..
