Hawks vs Miami Game Two: 2 Fast 2 Furious

[Jamaaliver]

Hawks seeking Revenge and Redemption in Game 2



Despite struggling mightily in the Atlanta Hawks' Game 1 blowout loss to the Miami Heat on Sunday, star point guard Trae Young believes his team will have no problem bouncing back.

Young told reporters after the 115-91 drubbing that he thinks Miami "came out with a different energy" after getting swept in last year's playoffs and he feels "very confident we'll turn this around."

Atlanta couldn't get anything going Sunday, shooting just 38.7 percent from the field and 27.8 percent from beyond the arc. The Hawks fell behind early and faced a 19-point halftime deficit, their second-largest of the year.

Conversely, the Heat were scorching on Sunday, shooting 52.4 percent from the field and 47.4 percent from three-point range. Duncan Robinson led the way with 27 points off the bench and connected on eight of his nine three-pointers.

Atlanta's struggles can likely be attributed to the quick turnaround from Friday's play-in tournament win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Hawks landed in Miami early Saturday morning, less than 36 hours before the Sunday afternoon tipoff.

The Hawks will have the chance to bounce back in Tuesday's Game 2, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.

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[Jamaaliver]

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Trae Young has passed every test so far. Now he faces a new one.



Young has passed every test with the Hawks. I’m looking forward to seeing how he handles the latest one. Young is coming off the worst playoff performance of his short career. The Heat blew out the Hawks in Game 1 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference first round series. Young has never been down 1-0 in a series. There is no way Young will play as poorly in Game 2. The question is whether Young can be good enough to win a series against an opponent that is well-constructed to slow him. The odds are against it. But overcoming long odds is how Young has reached the point of being the primary focus of the Heat’s defensive plan.

Young is one of the best players in the world despite usually being the smallest man on the court. His inspired play lifted the Hawks to victory in two playoff series last year and through the play-in tournament this year. When Young says the Hawks will be ready for Game 2, I believe him. The Hawks said they mostly need to play with more intensity in Game 2. To that end, coach Nate McMillan gave players a light day on Monday. A long film session was followed by an optional workout at FTX Arena. Most Hawks regulars decided to rest. After playing two high-intensity games in less than 48 hours, the Hawks should have more energy for Game 2.

But the Hawks also need a better plan to attack Miami’s switching and trapping scheme against Young. “Whenever teams are trapping and doing things like that, it’s not necessarily just me,” Young said. “I have to make sure my teammates are in the right place. It is more about getting guys to the right place and making the right reads. It is a collective unit when a guy gets trapped.” That’s true. Young’s teammates weren’t moving off the ball enough in Game 1. Bogdan Bogdanovic is best at it, but he doesn’t play as much with Young since moving to a bench role. The Hawks might benefit from those two sharing the court for more minutes in Game 2.

The Hawks are built to win by scoring a lot of points with Young at the controls as playmaker and shot-maker. That formula made them one of the best offensive teams in the league this season. That’s why it was surprising to see them struggle to even create open looks in Game 1. The Hawks had 86 possessions before garbage time and scored 76 points, per Cleaning the Glass. The Hawks weren’t much better defensively, but no team could make enough stops to overcome an offensive performance that bad. Everything was off: spacing, pacing, passing, shooting. To win the series, the Hawks need some great performances from Young as the engine of the offense. In Game 1, he sometimes over-dribbled while looking for favorable switches. That was getting the Hawks nowhere and, besides, there aren’t many favorable matchups to find against the Heat.

Miami’s defense is a difficult problem for Young and the Hawks to solve. They’ve done it before. They played the Heat twice this season with Adebayo in the lineup and produced offensive efficiency near or better than their season average. Miami turned up the pressure in the playoffs and the Hawks wilted.

Young is so good he can ruin the best game plan. The latest test is whether he can do it in this series against a great defensive team with versatile personnel.

Atlanta Journal Constitution

[Galloisdaman]

I do not want Trae to think he has to do things himself. I think sometimes he tries to do so much that it puts him in a position of trying low percentage shots and even worse crazy passes. Trae being Trae is plenty.
We also need the guys to move move and move. Way too much standing around. The ball also has to move. Get 3-5 guys touching the ball on many possessions instead of so much one on one. Lastly I think these Heat have very good perimeter defense but can be taken inside.

[rate_]

Trae needs to explore his off ball side like Curry. Trae playing on ball too much is playing into Miami's hands. He can use his gravity as a movement shooter to get others open while forcing the Heat to guard the ball more instead of him. The off ball stuff will unlock the offense.

[Galloisdaman]

Trae needs to explore his off ball side like Curry. Trae playing on ball too much is playing into Miami's hands. He can use his gravity as a movement shooter to get others open while forcing the Heat to guard the ball more instead of him. The off ball stuff will unlock the offense.

What about setting up a 3 man triangle? Have Bogs in the corner. Trae on that side but closer to the middle. Feed Collins or Gallo in the post. Force the double and then have Collins or Gallo feed whosever man leaves to double?

[HMFFL]

Stay competitive is all I ask for.

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[Galloisdaman]

Kenny made a good point. Trae could play a little more like Curry without the ball to get open than with the dribble.

[Galloisdaman]

Much more hustle. A few more passes. Just have to stop the careless turnovers.

[Jamaaliver]

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[Jamaaliver]

Man, the Heat are as adept at drawing fouls as Trae is...really annoying to watch.

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[Jamaaliver]

Man, our offense is trash. Just five guys on the perimeter. No movement off ball and Heat players can sit and watch Trae, waiting for the drive or the pass.

Bad coaching/adjustments at the half.

We need Capela back too.

[Jamaaliver]

It's time to start Bogdanovic in Game Three. Ahead of either Huerter or Hunter.

We need the offense.

[Galloisdaman]

Ugh. Well still 5 games to go

[Jamaaliver]

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