{"id":134752,"date":"2025-04-16T15:57:53","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T19:57:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=134752"},"modified":"2025-04-16T15:57:53","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T19:57:53","slug":"hawks-play-in-tournament-matchup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/16\/hawks-play-in-tournament-matchup\/","title":{"rendered":"Examining Hawks Play-In Tournament Matchup with Heat\/Bulls"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After falling to the Orlando Magic on Tuesday in the Play-in Tournament, the Atlanta Hawks find themselves in a &#8220;must-win&#8221; scenario on Friday at home. They will face the winner of the Chicago Bulls\/Miami Heat matchup with a trip to the Eastern Conference playoffs on the line. Atlanta split the 2024-25 season series at two wins apiece against both squads. How do the Hawks match up with the Heat and Bulls? Let&#8217;s explore both possibilities.<\/p>\n<h2>Examining Hawks Play-In Tournament Matchup with Heat\/Bulls<\/h2>\n<h3>Can the Hawks and Bulls Stop Each Other?<\/h3>\n<p>On Tuesday, the Magic imposed their will on Atlanta defensively, holding the visitors to just 95 points. However, if the Hawks face the Bulls in the Play-In on Friday, the game will likely be more of an offensive track meet. Both squads finished inside the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/advanced?dir=A&amp;sort=PACE\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">top three in pace<\/a> and top six in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/traditional?dir=A&amp;sort=PTS\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">points per game<\/a>, but they are tied for 18th in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/advanced?dir=D&amp;sort=DEF_RATING\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">defensive rating<\/a>. There was certainly no shortage of fast-paced scoring in their regular-season matchups. On Dec. 26, the Hawks beat Chicago 141-133 in regulation behind a 50-point fourth quarter, erasing a 21-point deficit.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Hawks Go On An Electric 20-0 Run in the CLUTCH! \ud83d\udd25UNCUT | December 26, 2024\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pSF1eBIAEpo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Both squads score in bunches but do so in different ways. Atlanta looks to pound the ball in the paint, ranking third in the association at 54.7 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.teamrankings.com\/nba\/stat\/points-in-paint-per-game\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">points in the paint<\/a> per game. In contrast, the Bulls attack from a distance, they take and make the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/traditional?dir=A&amp;sort=FG3M\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">third-most threes<\/a> in the league this season. The Hawks run a lot of pick-and-roll for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/y\/youngtr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trae Young<\/a> to make reads going downhill, whether the result is scoring on a floater or an alley-oop to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/o\/okongon01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Onyeka Okongwu<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gueyemo02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mouhamed Gueye<\/a>. Chicago wants to push the pace and find shooters like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/whiteco01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Coby White<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/huertke01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kevin Huerter<\/a>, and even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/v\/vucevni01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nikola Vu\u010devi\u0107<\/a> through driving and kicking.<\/p>\n<p>White and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/giddejo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Josh Giddey<\/a>, who averaged 21.2 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 9.3 assists after the All-Star break, are the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/03\/23\/every-nba-quadruple-double\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Bulls&#8217; main scoring threats<\/a>. <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/daniedy01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dyson Daniels<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/risacza01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zaccharie Risacher<\/a> will likely guard the backcourt tandem and must keep the Bulls guards from getting to the paint too easily. This matchup likely comes down to which squad can put up more resistance defensively.<\/p>\n<h3>Heat Will Look to Wear Out the Hawks<\/h3>\n<p>Similar to Orlando, the Heat want to slow down the game and let their strong half-court defense dictate the pace. They finished ninth in the NBA with a 112 defensive rating this season.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/adebaba01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bam Adebayo<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mitchda01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Davion Mitchell<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wiggian01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andrew Wiggins<\/a> lead Miami&#8217;s defense. Adebayo&#8217;s lateral quickness at 6-foot-9 allows him to switch onto guards to defend the pick-and-roll. The Hawks also struggled across the season series against Miami&#8217;s 2-3 zone defense. They only managed to score over 112 points one time across the four matchups. Surprisingly, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.statmuse.com\/nba\/ask\/trae-young-stats-against-heat-this-season\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Young averaged<\/a> just 17 points per game on 35% shooting against the Heat this season. Atlanta will need a better performance from its All-Star point guard to take down Miami.<\/p>\n<p>On paper, Atlanta matches up well defensively with the Heat. Daniels defends <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/herroty01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyler Herro<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/o\/okongon01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Onyeka Okongwu<\/a> covers Adebayo, who only managed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statmuse.com\/nba\/ask\/bam-adebayo-stats-against-hawks-this-season\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">15.8 points and 8.5 boards<\/a> in the season series. However, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/09\/davion-mitchell-finding-way-with-heat\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Mitchell hurt the Hawks<\/a> offensively off the bench over the final two regular-season meetings. On Feb. 26, he scored 20 points with 5-5 shooting from deep and added 16 points on 4-5 from downtown on March 27. If Mitchell is hot, the Hawks need <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/leverca01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Caris LeVert<\/a>, who had seven points on 3-11 shooting against the Magic, to counter his production.<\/p>\n<p>Atlanta is certainly capable of beating the Bulls and Heat in the Play-In. With a young team looking to build, playoff experience can go a long way in developing talent for the future.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo credit: \u00a9 Rhona Wise-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After falling to the Orlando Magic on Tuesday in the Play-in Tournament, the Atlanta Hawks find themselves in a &#8220;must-win&#8221; scenario on Friday at home. They will face the winner of the Chicago Bulls\/Miami Heat matchup with a trip to the Eastern Conference playoffs on the line. Atlanta split the 2024-25 season series at two [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5516,"featured_media":134804,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,4,62],"tags":[212,1010,4605,1349,1896],"class_list":["post-134752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-hawks","category-nba","tag-andrew-wiggins","tag-bam-adebayo","tag-dyson-daniels","tag-trae-young","tag-tyler-herro"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5516"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134752"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134805,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134752\/revisions\/134805"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}