Associated Press3 minutes of reading
Okongwu heads home for a big-time alley-oop for the Hawks
Onyeka Okongwu soars through the paint and throws down a huge alley-oop to extend the Hawks’ lead.
Dejounte Murray added 18 points for the Hawks, who avenged last season’s five-game Round 1 loss to Miami and earned an East first-round matchup with Boston that begins Saturday.
Kyle Lowry scored 33 points — his highest-scoring game in his two Miami seasons — and the Heat will host either Toronto or Chicago on Friday to decide a spot in Round 1 against No. 8 and top-seeded Milwaukee. Raptors and Bulls play Wednesday; The winner of Friday’s game opens the series against the Bucs on Sunday.
Tyler Hero scored 26 for Miami, and Jimmy Butler finished with 21.
For the Hawks, four reserves — Satik Bey, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Onyeka Okongwu and Jalen Johnson —- combined for 53 points.
The Hawks improved to 3-0 all-time in play-in tournament games; That’s the best mark in the league when New Orleans plays Oklahoma City on Wednesday night.
They got this across the board. Atlanta outrebounded Miami 63-39, including a 22-6 edge in second-chance points in the offensive class and a 26-6 edge.
The Hawks took two timeouts in the first 3:53 of the third quarter as a 24-point lead with 2:37 left in the first half — a 63-39 Atlanta edge — turned into Whittle, and quickly .
Miami trailed by 15 at halftime, then opened the third quarter on a 16-6 run. It all added up to a 27-8 run in a 7-minute span to get the Heat within 71-66.
But the Hawks had an answer then, and the Heat made a run every other time. Atlanta pushed the lead back to 13 going into the fourth, and with Miami within six midway through the final quarter, the Hawks hit five straight to regain a double-digit edge.
