The Miami Heat may have survived without key players against the Atlanta Hawks, but they won’t be able to do so in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Throughout the television broadcast of Game 5 between the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks, there was one constant shot that kept coming up – it was of Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry cheering on the team in street clothes.
The Heat went on to close out the Hawks in five games on their home floor even without Lowry and Jimmy, but if Miami is going to survive another round in the postseason – the Eastern Conference semifinals – they’re going to need two of their most important players in uniforms and not street clothes.
It’s one thing to beat the one-trick pony that was the Hawks. Miami made Trae Young the focal point of the team’s defense and the Hawks didn’t have a counter. Young looked disinterested half the time and never seemed like himself at any point in this series.
Young finished the series by averaging just 15 points and six assists on 32 percent shooting from the field and 18 percent shooting from 3-point range. He also finished with 30 total turnovers, an average of six per game.
To put those numbers in context, Young averaged 28 points and 10 assists per game during the regular season on 46 percent shooting from the field and 38 percent shooting from 3-point range.
But it won’t be that easy in the second round against either the Philadelphia 76ers or Toronto Raptors. The Heat won’t be able to survive without Lowry or Jimmy. And there will be questions about whether they’ll be ready at the start of the series.
Miami has had a great season and they have been one of the most impressive teams in the postseason thus far. But a big reason was the dominance of Jimmy and the leadership of Lowry. The Heat managed to survive without them momentarily against the Hawks.
I’m not sure if that will be the case next round against the likes of Joel Embiid and James Harden. Miami needs to get healthy. And fast.