NBA Matchups: April 22

Miami Heat at Atlanta Hawks

Team Totals: Heat 111.5, Hawks 110

Injury Report: Bam Adebayo (Q, quad), Caleb Martin (Q, ankle), Markieff Morris (Q, hip), P.J. Tucker (Q, calf), Gabe Vincent (P, toe), Clint Capela (O, knee)

Heat projected starters: Kyle Lowry, Max Strus, Jimmy Butler, P.J. Tucker, Bam Adebayo

Hawks projected starters: Trae Young, Kevin Huerter, De’Andre Hunter, Danilo Gallinari, John Collins

Spoelstra quotes: Said Jimmy was guarding 1-5 while dominating on offense, said Butler was able to settle them down on offense, said he likes P.J. at the five, said it could be a “full 15-man rotation” at any point in the game, said Gabe Vincent’s shooting and ability to guard multiple positions is important, said he likes Lowry and Vincent together because they’re both two-way players and it takes pressure off Kyle, said Caleb Martin gave them great minutes so they “let it roll” and he cut into Duncan Robinson, said he will think about rotation changes in January and February but he’s not thinking about it now, said the Heat losing 50/50 balls has been an issue.

McMillan quotes: Said turnovers were the biggest issue, said they missed some opportunities for weak-side scoring, said he liked how they played with pace, said the Heat having so much space made it easy for Jimmy, said John Collins hasn’t complained about his finger or foot and there was no issue in Game 2, said Delon Wright was playing well and they need someone to guard the isolation stuff.

Stats and Notes: 

The Hawks are not getting anything at the basket with just 21.7% of their shots at the rim, but they’ve been a little unlucky on their 3-pointers at 9-of-33 (27.3%). The Hawks are also getting nothing in transition right now while they’re really struggling in the halfcourt with an 85.9 O rating. That’s led to a playoff-low 97.8 O rating overall in this small two-game sample. The Hawks are really missing Clint Capela.

*Jimmy Butler picked up a ton of ball-handling in the last game with 5.8 minutes of touch time (5.0 on regular season), and obviously the usage was up there with his 34.1 in Game 2. He’s roasted Hunter at times, and the Hawks really can’t add a big adjustment to send him help because of all the shooting out there. Jimmy should smash again.

*Tyler Herro’s role has shrunk, as he’s lost 1.1 minutes of touch time per game, and he’s seen his 3-point volume take a huge hit. He has some upside, but it’s the Jimmy Show in the playoffs.