Miami Heat vs. Atlanta Hawks Pick & Prediction APRIL 18th 2025
Preview and Prediction
The NBA's Southeast Division Invitational continues Friday night as the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks face off in Georgia for the final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The eighth-seed game in the Eastern play-in tournament features a Heat team that recently won an elimination game against the Chicago Bulls and a Hawks team that missed out on a playoff spot by losing to the Orlando Magic on Tuesday.
The winner of this game will go on to face the No. 1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs.
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Atlanta secured home court advantage over Miami by finishing the regular season with a record of 40-42, three games better than the Heat.
The Magic won the Southeast Division title, but only had the seventh-best record in the East, so they also had to compete in the play-in tournament to advance. With two teams from the Southeast Division making it to the playoffs, the division will now have the same number of teams as the Atlantic Division, while the Central Division will have four.
Having home court advantage is a comfort for the Hawks, who suffered a 120-95 loss to the Magic on Tuesday while playing on the road.
All four games in the Hawks-Heat season series were won by the home team, with each team winning by double-digit margins. Atlanta won by 10 and 12 points in December and February, while Miami bounced back with a 22-point win at home before tying the series with a 10-point victory in March.
A lot has changed since Jalen Johnson and De'Andre Hunter combined for 54 points in Atlanta's win over Miami in December. Neither player will be available for the Hawks on Friday night, as Johnson suffered a season-ending shoulder injury and Hunter was traded at the deadline.
However, two constants for both teams will be the importance of star guards Tyler Herro and Trae Young.
Herro averaged 30.0 points in Miami's two home wins against Atlanta this season, but struggled in their one road game, scoring only 11 points and missing all nine of his 3-point attempts while being guarded by Hawks defensive ace Dyson Daniels.
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Herro was a key player in the Heat's 109-90 win over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, scoring 38 points.
With Herro scoring 20 or more points in each of his last 10 regular season games, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was confident heading into the game against Chicago.
"We're only halfway there," Spoelstra said. "We didn't have the luxury of winning one game and automatically making it to the playoffs. The team feels great about this win and we put a lot of effort into it. This is not something that happens overnight. I feel like we've been making progress in the last few weeks."
Young, on the other hand, is coming off a 36-point performance in his last regular season game against the Philadelphia 76ers before struggling against the Orlando defense on Tuesday, only scoring one 3-pointer in five attempts before being ejected with two technical fouls. He still finished with 28 points.
Now, Young will have to bounce back against another tough defense. He only averaged 13.0 points in the first three games against the Heat this season before scoring 29 points in their last meeting in March.
"The importance of him keeping his cool, he has already addressed that with our team," Hawks coach Quin Snyder said of Young. "He's quick to take responsibility for that."
Miami Heat vs. Atlanta Hawks Recap DEC 28TH 2024
Jalen Johnson had 28 points and 13 rebounds and the Atlanta Hawks won their third straight with a 120-110 victory over the visiting Miami Heat on Saturday.
Johnson was 13-for-20 from the floor, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range, and had five assists and two blocked shots.
Johnson posted his fourth straight double-double and his 18th of the season. The fourth-year veteran extended his streak of double-figure scoring games to 27, the longest of his career and the longest active streak on the team.
Atlanta also got 26 points off the bench from De'Andre Hunter and 11 points and 15 assists from Trae Young.
Miami was led by Tyler Herro's 28 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists and Bam Adebayo's 17 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.
The Heat pulled within 108-107 on a bucket by Adebayo at 3:28 before Atlanta reeled off nine unanswered points. Johnson finished the surge with a 3-pointer to make it a 10-point game with 1:08 left.
Miami got no closer than seven down the stretch in the first of four meetings this season between the Southeast Division squads.
Atlanta led 35-28 after the first quarter, with Garrison Mathews coming off the bench to score eight points. The Hawks maintained the lead in the second quarter and took a 61-58 lead into the break.
Atlanta led by as many as nine points in the third quarter and scored the final six points of the period - offsetting an 11-point quarter by Herro - to lead 93-83 entering the fourth.
The Heat played without veteran Jimmy Butler (illness) for the fourth straight game. The Hawks were without Bogdan Bogdanovic (left lower leg contusion) and Onyeka Okongwu (left knee soreness), as well as Dyson Daniels, the NBA's leader in steals (3.1 per game), who had a non-COVID illness.
The Hawks begin a season-long six-game road trip that starts with the second half of a back-to-back on Sunday at Toronto. The Heat conclude a two-game road back-to-back with a visit to Houston on Sunday.