A day after giving the Boston Celtics a serious beat down, the Miami Heat secured the second spot in the eastern conference playoffs, defeating the Atlanta Hawks 98-90. The Celtics, on the other hand, weren't able to recover from their encounter against the Heat, losing to the Washington Wizards 95-94. With the Celtics' loss, Miami is now guaranteed home-court advantage against every team in the east, except the Chicago Bulls.
The Heat came out blazing against the Hawks, building up a 16 point lead by halftime. The Heat slowed down in the second half, failing to score over 20 points in either of the next two quarters. The Heat's lack of offense in the second half, allowed the Hawks to slowly creep back into the game. With less than four minutes left in the game, the Hawks managed to tie the game. For a team that has been criticized of being unable to finish out close games, the Heat didn't panic even after blowing a 16 point halftime lead. The Heat closed the game out on a run, thanks to a couple of three's by James Jones.
Heat forward LeBron James had another monster performance for the Heat. James finished the game with 34 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists. Chris Bosh was equally impressive, dropping 15 points and 9 rebounds for the Heat. Dwyane Wade had no problems putting in baskets against the Hawks. Wade finished the game with 21 points and 6 assists.
The Heat were solid offensively as a team, shooting 52.2 percent from the field. Once again, the role players on the Miami Heat roster did their part to ensure the win against the Hawks. Mike Bibby led the role players, shooting 50 percent from the field. Bibby finished the game with 10 points and 2 assists for the Heat. The Heat were equally impressive on the defensive side of the ball, holding the Hawks to a 44.6 percent field goal percentage.
The Heat will probably rest their stars for their final game of the season against the Toronto Raptors. The Heat's "big three" have been impressive all season, and have quickly turned themselves into a serious title contenders.
David is a Miami Heat fan that has followed the team for 15 years.
Sources:
Associated Press," LeBron James scores 34 as Heat survive furious rally by Hawks "
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