Atlanta Hawks help Boston Celtics avoid first-round bloodbath vs Miami Heat

In an unexpected twist, the Atlanta Hawks dispatched the Miami Heat in their seventh versus eighth seed Eastern Conference Play-In game. This came despite the Heat being heavily favored and picked by an overwhelming majority of analysts and pundits. Of course, the Hawks have shown steady improvement since they fired former Head Coach Nate McMillan and replaced him with former Utah Jazz play caller and Gregg Popovich apprentice, Quin Snyder. Still, even with their new coach leading the way, the Hawks didn't seem to be quite on the level of Miami, particularly towards the end of the regular season ...