Trae Young leads Hawks into Miami for play-in clash
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Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young (left) has traditionally struggled against the Miami Heat and he knows he will have to do more in their play-in clash.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LOS ANGELES – Atlanta star Trae Young has some unfinished business when his Hawks team visit the Miami Heat on Tuesday night (Wednesday morning, Singapore time) for a National Basketball Association (NBA) Eastern Conference play-in game.
The winner will be the seventh seed in the play-offs, facing the Boston Celtics.
The loser will get a chance to earn the No. 8 seed and a date with the Milwaukee Bucks. To get there, they would have to beat the winner of the other Eastern Conference play-in game between the Toronto Raptors and Chicago Bulls.
Last season, the Heat eliminated Young and the Hawks
Young, who finished 10th in the league in scoring (26.2 points) this season, has struggled – relative to his overall numbers – throughout his career against the Heat.
In 17 career games versus Miami, he is averaging 21.4 points on 40.2 per cent shooting, including 32.8 per cent on three-pointers. In four games this season, he averaged 19.8 points on 35.6 per cent shooting, including 20.8 per cent from deep.
For his career against all teams, Young shot 43.7 per cent from the floor and 35.1 per cent from behind the arc.
Given all of that, it is no wonder Miami are 3-1 against Atlanta this season. On March 4, for example, Miami held Young to eight points on two-for-13 shooting as the Heat prevailed 117-109.
The Hawks closed their regular season with a 120-114 loss at the Celtics. It was a meaningless game in the sense that play-off seeding did not change with the result, and that fact was not lost on Hawks coach Quin Snyder.
“Our focus needs to go immediately to Miami,” he said after Sunday’s game. “We need to prepare.”
De’Andre Hunter was the only Hawks starter to play against Boston as Snyder rested his other regulars, including Young.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra did something similar, resting leading scorer Jimmy Butler in Miami’s final two games. In addition, he did not use starters Bam Adebayo, Kevin Love and Tyler Herro in Miami’s loss at the Washington Wizards
Miami bounced back to beat the Orlando Magic 123-110 in their regular-season finale.
“We’re getting confidence in how we’re playing,” Spoelstra said.
Butler faced the Hawks three times this season, averaging 25.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists. For the season, he is averaging 22.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 5.3 assists.
Miami’s other stars are Adebayo, who is averaging 20.4 points, and Herro, who scores at a clip of 20.1 per game. In four games against Atlanta, Adebayo averaged 24.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists.
As it stands, Butler and Adebayo will be the likely stars against the Hawks, and Young will know that he must do much more as he aims to make amends. REUTERS
