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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 when Jimmy Butler and company went into "playoff mode" early.

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And yet, it was Butler and fellow All-NBA member Bam Adebayo who let down the Heat in their most important game of the season thus far. Butler put up decent counting stats with 21 points, four rebounds, and nine assists, but was inefficient and effectively shut down by the Hawks defense when it mattered.

He finished with just six makes on 19 attempts from the field.

Bam Adebayo had an even worse game, tallying just 12 points on 5-12 shooting. Despite their tertiary options in Tyler Herro and Kyle Lowry stepping up big time to combine for 59 points, the poor performances from Butler and Bam were simply too much to overcome, as Trae Young and the Hawks secure themselves the seventh seed with relatively little drama on the way there.

Unfortunately for Young and Atlanta, they’ve also locked themselves into a first-round clash with the reigning Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics.

While the Milwaukee Bucks have been the more dominant team throughout the regular season, it can be argued that Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and the rest of the Cs with their versatility and size on the wings would be the tougher matchup come playoff time.

• Heat 105 – Hawks 116
• Game time: Tuesday, April 11, 2023 4:05 PM ET
• Location: Kaseya Center, Miami FL, United State.
• Watch: MLB.TV

While the Hawks might have not done themselves any favors in securing the seventh seed, Boston should be thrilled in how their Play-In game turned out. While Atlanta and Miami may be on even footing in terms of regular season record, the Heat have proven themselves to be a particularly tough out in the playoffs.

Most recently, Jimmy Butler and co took the eventual Eastern Conference Champion Celtics to seven games last postseason and came a few inches shy of toppling them entirely on an ill-advised Jimmy Butler pull-up triple.

While the Hawks are dangerous in their own right, it’s fairly certain that Boston prefers their current matchup over the possibility of playing the Heat in the first round.

The Hawks are Play-In proof, writes @joevardon.

It was Atlanta's third win in as many tries over two seasons in the NBA’s new format for deciding seventh and eighth seeds for the playoffs. https://t.co/rLvAQhdstb

— The Athletic NBA (@TheAthleticNBA) April 12, 2023

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| Title: Atlanta Hawks help Boston Celtics avoid first-round bloodbath vs Miami Heat
| Author: Andy Quach
| Date: April 13 ,2023