Hawks Hold Off Heat in NBA Play-In Game, Secure No. 7 Seed in Eastern Conference

Quin Snyder’s bags were packed in February for an overseas trip. He was going to spend time with some friends and family, see some coaches he’s gotten to know over the years.

Then the Atlanta Hawks called with a job offer, to bring him on as coach.

And now Snyder’s bags are packed again – for the playoffs, starting with a trip to Boston.

Trae Young scored 25 points, Clint Capela grabbed 21 rebounds and the Hawks earned the No. 7 in the Eastern Conference playoffs by beating the Miami Heat 116-105 in a play-in tournament game.

“Our guys are trying to be the best version of ourselves at the end of the year,” Snyder said. “The year’s not over. So hopefully we can take this and continue to build on it. It’s one game – but it was our game.”

Dejounte Murray added 18 points for the Hawks, who avenged a five-game Round 1 loss to Miami last season and earned an East first-round matchup with Boston that will start Saturday.
Kyle Lowry scored 33 points – his highest-scoring game in his two Miami seasons – for the Heat, who will host either Toronto or Chicago on Friday to decide the No. 8 seed and a spot against top overall seed Milwaukee in Round 1. The Raptors and Bulls play Wednesday; the winner of Friday’s game opens the series against the Bucks on Sunday.

Tyler Herro scored 26 for Miami, and Jimmy Butler finished with 21.

“Come Friday, we have to play the legit exact opposite of how we played tonight,” Butler said.

PLAY-IN HISTORY

Miami became the 16th franchise to participate in the play-in tournament. Chicago, Toronto and Oklahoma City will stretch that list out to 19 teams on Wednesday. That leaves only Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Milwaukee, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Sacramento and Utah as clubs who have yet to be part of the play-in event.

UP NEXT

Hawks: Visit Boston for Game 1 of an East first-round series Saturday.
Heat: Host either Toronto or Chicago in an elimination game Friday.