2022 NBA Playoffs Eastern Conference: #1 Miami Heat vs #8 Atlanta Hawks
Tale of the Tape:
| Heat | STAT | Hawks |
| 53-29 | Record | 43-39 |
| 110 (17th) | Points Per Game | 113.9 (6th) |
| 105.6 (4th) | Points Allowed Per Game | 112.4 (21st) |
| 29-12 at home | Home/Away Record | 16-25 on the road |
| 29th | Pace of Play | 19th |
| 10th | Off Efficiency Rating | T-1st |
| 5th | Def Efficiency Rating | 26th |
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Heat leaders:
- Jimmy Butler, SF: 21.4 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 5.5 APG, 1.6 SPG
- Tyler Herro, PG: 20.7 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 4.0 APG, 39.9% 3PT
- Bam Adebayo, C: 19.1 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 3.4 APG, 1.4 SPG, 55.7% FG
Hawks leaders:
- Trae Young, PG: 28.4 PPG, 9.7 APG, 90.4 FT%, 38.2% 3PT
- De’Andre Hunter, SF: 13.4 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 37.9% 3PT
- Clint Capela, C: 11.1 PPG, 11.9 RPG, 1.3 BPG, 61.3% FG
Key Injuries:
- Clint Capela, Atlanta: Knee (Out)
- Lou Williams, Atlanta: Back (Out)
Series Prediction:
Heat win the series 4-1
- Miami won the regular-season series 3-1, but only one of the three-game was decided by more than six points, which would suggest that the two teams are relatively well-matched.
- Atlanta’s hopes will rest on the shoulders of their top-ranked offense and Trae Young. Young was tremendous in the Hawks’ run to the conference finals a year ago, so we know that the moment will certainly not be too big for him. Young is the type of scorer who can certainly propel his team to victories, as we saw when he scored 38 points to help the Hawks get past the Cavs and into this series. However, asking Young to do that four times in seven games is going to be a tall task.
- The task is made particularly taller because the Hawks will be without Clint Capela for at least a week. That’s a major problem for Atlanta because Capela is one of their best interior defenders and would have been a necessity in containing Bam Adebayo inside. Atlanta was already a pretty mediocre defensive team, so this certainly won’t help.
- On the other hand, Miami is an elite defensive team and will certainly have some answers for Trae Young. While they likely won’t stop him every game, I’d be willing to bet that Erik Spoelstra will be able to gameplan a way to prevent Young from doing major damage throughout the entire series.
- Miami also has a deep and talented bunch of shooters in Duncan Robinson, Max Strus, and P.J. Tucker, which gives them multiple options to keep up with the Atlanta offense should any one of them be cold from beyond the arc in a particular game.
- Overall, I think this Miami team is too deep and their defense is too good against a short-handed Atlanta team. If Capela and Lou Williams were healthy, I could see Atlanta stealing a couple of games, but it’s hard to see more than one if it’s really just Young on his own.
