Atlanta Hawks: Top 5 Games in 2014-15
By Jay Desai
4. Hawks at Heat — Sat., Feb. 28
The Atlanta Hawks will end the month of All-Star weekend with a game against the Miami Heat.
Miami is coming off a tough offseason as they saw their best player, LeBron James, leave to go play for his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers. The loss of King James is huge for the Heat as he led Miami in points, rebounds, assists, and steals.
However, the Heat loss was slightly minimized as they were able to sign Luol Deng in the offseason.
The Miami Heat are expected to fall in the three to eight range in the East which is similar to the projection for the Atlanta Hawks. They still have good talent even after LeBron left with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
What To Watch For
The Miami Heat are a curious bunch as no one really knows what kind of team this will be with LeBron James gone, Dwyane Wade’s history of knee injuries, and Chris Bosh expected to be the team leader for the first time since his days in Toronto.
With many times fighting for the spots outside of the East’s top two spots, the Atlanta Hawks will need to use this game to show that they are ahead of the pack of “the rest”.
Look for the Atlanta Hawks to focus on Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. If they are somewhat contained, the Hawks should be able to win this matchup especially with their superior bench.
The Hawks come into this game on the second night of a back-to-back. Atlanta will have to get started early or they could fall behind quick. Look for the Atlanta Hawks to focus on their system early as set plays will put the team in a position to score quick.