The Heat, finalist in 2020 and seeded N.1 in the East, gave a basketball lesson to the far too tender Hawks (N.8), who will have to show pride in the following confrontations, to avoid a sweep.
The DNA of the Heat is however well known: combativeness at all times, tough defense, versatility in attack.
And these perfectly applied qualities first claimed a victim: Young was stifled, unable to weigh in the game, as he had been able to do on Friday, by scoring 38 points in the second playoff game won by the Hawks at Cleveland.
He only made one basket out of 12 attempted (8 pts, 6 rebounds, 4 assists), his lowest total this season and less than the number of blows taken: a hand in the face and a dive, certainly involuntary, on an ankle, works by Kyle Lowry (10 pts, 9 assists), as well as a neck grab by Jimmy Butler (21 pts) at the start of the match after a collision which earned them a technical foul each.
"We wanted to make it very physically intense for him, challenge every shot, take him away from the three-point line and force him to pass the ball. He's a great passer, but more importantly he can score a lot of points and we didn't want that," Butler summed up.
The message passed, Miami was able to unfold its game and Duncan Robinson play the snipers (28 pts) with an 8/9 from long distance.
On the Hawks side, where Clint Capela, victim of a knee hyper-extension on Friday during the play-off won in Cleveland, missed a lot inside, only Danilo Gallinari (17 pts) and DeAndre Hunter (14 pts) existed .
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