76ers Playoff Watch: Atlanta Hawks Win Play-In vs. Miami Heat

The Atlanta Hawks are headed to the NBA Playoffs for the third-straight season. On Tuesday night, Atlanta battled it out against the Miami Heat for the first game of the NBA Play-In Tournament.

The winner of Tuesday’s game sits in the Eastern Conference’s seventh seed. The loser will get another crack at the eighth seed later this week. While the Hawks entered Tuesday’s matchup as the underdogs, they came out on top.

A 25-point outing from Trae Young and a strong effort from the Hawks’ bench unit helped Atlanta control the game from the start until the finish. After getting out to a 36-27 lead in the first quarter, the Hawks never looked back.

Atlanta led by as many as 24 points during the matchup. Miami cut the lead down to single digits, but they ended up coming up short by 11 points. With that loss, the Heat will have to face the winner of Wednesday night’s Play-In game between the Toronto Raptors and the Chicago Bulls.

Meanwhile, the Hawks will begin preparing for a first-round seven-game series against the Boston Celtics.

Suddenly, the Atlanta Hawks could once again become playoff opponents for the Philadelphia 76ers. As the third seed, the Sixers will face the sixth-seeded Brooklyn Nets in round one. Depending on how the series goes, the Sixers could take on the winner of the Celtics or the Hawks.

If the Sixers happen to run into the Hawks during the postseason, it would be the first time they battle it out in the playoffs since the Eastern Conference Semifinals series in 2021. Both teams have a long way to go and a lot of work to do before they reach that point, though.

The Sixers are set to begin their first-round series on Saturday at 1 PM. The Celtics and the Hawks will begin their series shortly after at 3:30 PM.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.