The Miami Heat could have come into Friday night’s game and rested their guys. With their injury history and their work to get to first place status this season, you couldn’t have blamed them.
However, it wasn’t a bad thing to see them go against the Atlanta Hawks in a game that would give them the opportunity to continue to fine-tune things while letting another potential Eastern Conference foe know what type of task they would have before them in a meeting down the road.
Well, Atlanta started the game out by sending the message. Clint Capela would have five offensive boards in just over a quarter of action or so, finishing the first half with a 13 point and 10 rebound double-double.
Trae Young would close the first half with 23 points of his own. Down, 61-56, heading into the second half, the Miami Heat would have their work cut out for them in the second portion of the game.
Skipping right to the good parts, the Miami Heat would joust back and forth with the Hawks for the rest of the game.
The Miami Heat came into their game before the final one on their schedule ready to play. The starters went and led them to a tough victory over Atlanta.
In the closing moments, they would be able to make more of the plays that needed to be made to win it. They hit big shots, such as this one by Tyler Herro.
𝙏𝙔𝙇𝙀𝙍 𝙏𝙄𝙈𝙀™️ IN THE 4TH!!!@MiamiHEAT | #HEATCulture pic.twitter.com/K2CTY9EhjJ
— Bally Sports Sun: HEAT (@BallyHEAT) April 9, 2022
While they also remained patient and made the right plays for each other. They trusted one another and stuck to their guns.
They played until the end of the game and it was a great test for them as they close their season and hope to get focused on a deep playoff run. You may not see the starters again in this regular season, with just one more contest on the schedule in Orlando, where you can envision the rest of the crew getting that assignment.
As far as this one goes, it wasn’t a good win because of how it looked. It was a good win because of how it happened and what it took to get it.
The Miami Heat showed that they can take a punch, get to clutch offense, and lock in on defense when it’s necessary. All that can be done now is to keep an eye on the rest of the conference, the seeding, and the play-in scenario to see who they’ll face in the first round of the postseason tournament.
Let the games begin!