The Atlanta Hawks defeated the Miami Heat 116-105 in the NBA Play-In Tournament on Wednesday night, advancing to the first round of the playoffs as the seventh seed.
Trae Young led the Hawks with 33 points and 10 assists, while John Collins added 26 points and 10 rebounds. De’Andre Hunter had 14 points and Bogdan Bogdanovic added 13 points for Atlanta.
Jimmy Butler led the Heat with 30 points, while Bam Adebayo added 21 points and 12 rebounds. Tyler Herro had 14 points and Kyle Lowry added 11 points for Miami.
The Hawks jumped out to a 12-point lead in the first quarter and never looked back. They led by as many as 25 points in the second half and held off a late rally by the Heat.
The Hawks will face the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs. The Celtics are the second seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Heat’s season comes to an end. They were the first seed in the Eastern Conference in the regular season, but they lost to the Hawks in the Play-In Tournament.
The Hawks are now in the playoffs for the second straight season. They made it to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2022.