The Atlanta Hawks just played the worst game of their playoff campaign, well hopefully anyway. They were completely outclassed by the Miami Heat who took the lead early and made sure that the game was over by half time. The Hawks could not get to within 16 points after the long break.
It is telling that Trae Young equalled the worst shooting performance of his entire career in this game. On the other side of the coin Duncan Robinson set a record in a good way, beating his old franchise record of seven made 3-points. He went 8-of-9 from beyond the arc.
There were a number of other factors at play here which will hopefully settle down prior to the second game. John Collins returned for his first game in a month and there is no telling what the impact of Clint Capela’s knee injury had on the result.
The Atlanta Hawks could have been suffering a play-in hangover.
There are so many peaks and troughs during an NBA season. Fortunately the Hawks had a huge peak in their effort just to make it into the play-in tournament. They then face two must-win games which they were able to put both teams away.
It is only human nature that when a game is not win or go home after such a long period of pressure that there would be a slight let down. The problem is that even a five percent let down in the NBA can lead to a blowout loss.
However, there is good news for the Hawks. This is a series as Young pointed out on twitter.
They don’t call it a series for nothing..✍🏽 Bounce Back .! Happy Easter🙏🏽🐣
— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) April 17, 2022
The Hawks have a chance to take a lead in the series if they can take a victory on the Heat home court in Game 2. However, they are going to have to play a whole lot better if they are going to acheive this.
The second game of the series is on Tuesday the 19th at 7:30 PM. Look for Young and the rest of the Hawks to bounce back and take the next game to the Heat.