MIAMI – Despite a much better showing than in Game 1, the Hawks couldn’t hold off 45 points from Jimmy Butler, falling 115-105 to the No. 1 seed Heat in Game 2 of the first round of the NBA playoffs Tuesday.
Next up, Game 3 will be at State Farm Arena in Atlanta Friday, with a 7 p.m. tipoff.
Below are some takeaways from the loss:
1. The Hawks are in a tough position, losing both road games to go down 0-2 in the series. They were never in this position last season, splitting the first two road games in New York in the first round, Philadelphia in the second and Milwaukee in the conference finals. They’ve struggled on the road this season, going 16-25 on the road in the regular season, but now the series returns to Atlanta. They’re 27-14 at home and including the play-in tournament are 20-3 in their last 23 home games.
“We’re fine,” De’Andre Hunter (16 points, two rebounds, one block) said. “They did what they were supposed to do. And we’re going to do what we’re supposed to do at home.”
2. With eight points in about two-and-a-half minutes early in the third quarter, Butler helped the Heat begin to pull away from the Hawks, 72-62. Butler had 15 points, three rebounds, three assists and a steal in the third alone and finished with a game-high 45 points, plus five rebounds, five assists, two steals and zero turnovers as a plus-19. Butler broke free for a dunk to put the Heat up five with 2:16 left, holding off a scoring barrage from Bogdan Bogdanovic, then added a contested 3-pointer and a layup to put the game out of reach, 111-101, at the 1:20 mark.
3. After Game 1 devolving into a blowout early, the Hawks overall played with much better intensity. Bogdanovic stepped up in the second half, helping the Hawks on a 16-3 run, narrowing the deficit from 15 to 97-93 with 5:58 to play in the fourth quarter. Bogdanovic hit an off-balance corner 3-pointer to make it a three-point game, 104-101, at the 3:15 mark, before the Heat pulled away in the final minutes. He led the Hawks in scoring with 29 points (12-for-18 field goals, 5-for-10 from 3-point range), adding four rebounds and three assists.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
4. The Hawks finished the regular season averaging an NBA-low 11.9 turnovers per game, also the least amount of turnovers per game in franchise history. But they committed 19 turnovers Tuesday, translating to 21 points for the Heat, and they simply can’t afford to give up possessions and make things easier on the Heat like that. Many of those came in transition, with 20 fast-break points for Miami. Trae Young had a better scoring game than in Game 1, with 25 points, though he still struggled from 3-point range (10-for-20 field goals, 2-for-10 from 3-point range, 3-for-4 free throws) but had 10 turnovers (with seven assists and six rebounds). That amount will be hard to overcome.
5. John Collins, playing through a right ring finger sprain that’s still giving him trouble and also a right foot strain, moved back into the starting lineup and was overall moving and shooting better than in his 21 minutes in Game 1. Collins added 13 points, 10 rebounds and two assists in 29 minutes.
Stat of the game: 19 (the amount of turnovers the Hawks committed)
Star of the game: Butler (led Miami in scoring with 45 points)
Quotable: “You can’t have 19 turnovers in a playoff game and expect to win games.” (Hawks coach Nate McMillan on Atlanta not taking care of the ball)
