Atlanta's Furious Comback Falls Short against Miami in Overtime as Tyler Herro And The Heat End The Hawks Season

Atlanta, GA- The Atlanta Hawks season is over.

In one of the wildest games of the season, the Atlanta Hawks were not able to muster enough to defeat the Miami Heat in the final round of the NBA Play-In Tournament. Atlanta battled back from a deficit through the first three and a half quarters, took a late lead, lost the lead, tied the game to send it to overtime, but the Heat's offense, not defense, won the game for them in that five minute overtime period. An injury filled season for this young Hawks team has come to an end.

After Trae Young tied the game to go to overtime, Tyler Herro and Davion Mitchell took over for Miami to put them over the top. Miami outscored Atlanta 17-8 in the overtime period, with Mitchell scoring nine points on 3-4 shooting from deep. Going into overtime, Mitchell had just seven points. That was the difference in the game.

It was a tale of two halves tonight for the Hawks. Early on, the three-point shooting was not clicking at all for the Hawks, going 5-21 from deep in the first half, but 9-22 in the second half. Atlanta limited Miami to 4-18 from three in the second half and the defense was much better. Overall for the game, Atlanta shot 43% from the field and 34% from. They shook off a rough start, but it was an overall rough game for the Hawks offense.

Trae Young nearly willed the Hawks to the playoffs late in the game, hitting several big shots, including one to tie it up to go to overtime. He finished with 29 points and 11 assists. He was not the only Hawk that shined tonight. Onyeka Okongwu had one of his best performances in the biggest game of the Hawks season. Okongwu scored 28 points and pulled in 12 rebounds tonight. The Hawks bench bounced back from a poor night vs Orlando. Georges Niang and Caris LeVert combined for 35 points.

It was a particularly tough night for Zaccharie Risacher. After a really good rookie season, Risacher and his three-point shot fell flat in the biggest moments of the year. He finished the night 1-11, including 0-7 from three.

Miami had standout performances from Tyler Herro (30 points), Andrew Wiggins (20 points), and Davion Mitchell. Overall, the Heat shot 50% from the field and 38% from three.

Now, the Hawks head into a massive offseason. This was a transitional year with a lot of young players on the team, but how will the Hawks improve after their second straight season of missing the playoffs? There is young talent on the Hawks, but there are questions as well.

There were no changes to the Hawks starting lineup tonight. Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, Mouhamed Gueye, and Onyeka Okongwu were the first five on the floor tonight for Atlanta.

It was hard to picture a tougher start to the game for Atlanta than the one they had tonight. Miami hit four of their first five field goal attempts, while the Hawks were 0-3 with two turnovers. Quin Snyder took a timeout with 9:35 left in the opening quarter to try and get his team together before a bad start got worse.

It did not get worse and both teams would exchange runs after the timeout. Atlanta got a 10-2 run out of the timeout to cut the lead to 12-10, but Miami then went on a 7-0 run to get the lead back to nine 19-10. Much like Tuesday vs Orlando, the Hawks three-point shooting was off at the start. Atlanta was 1-10 from three in the first quarter and combine that with four turnovers, you have a bad recipe. Miami led 33-24 and it was a familiar feeling for the Hawks.

A 12-4 start to the second quarter for the Heat got the lead up to 17 points and it looked like the season was hanging on an edge for the Hawks. However, the bench unit for Atlanta had other ideas. After a rough night on Tuesday vs Orlando, the Hawks bench unit, particularly Georges Niang and Caris LeVert, found a rhythm. They combined for 21 of the Hawks 29 points in the second quarter and by the end of it, Atlanta trimmed a 17-point deficit to nine points heading into the break and while there was still a mountain to climb in order to keep their season alive, the game was far from over.

At the half, Atlanta was shooting 38% from the field and 24% from three. Niang led the way with 13 points and the Hawks had four players in double-figures. Miami shot 54% from the field and 39% from three. They also had four players in double-figures, led by Adebayo, who had 13.

Atlanta needed a good start to the second half and they got one. The Hawks started the third quarter on an 11-5 run to cut the Miami lead to 67-64 and the Heat called a timeout. Atlanta hit five of their first seven shots.

The good start did not last though. Atlanta failed to capitalize on the momentum, allowing Miami to go on a 6-0 run after the timeout and Zaccharie Risacher missing three open shots, leaving him a 1-11 fro the game. The Hawks three point shooting continued to be poor and Miami was back in control of the game. The Heat led 86-77 at the end of the third and it was do or die time for the Hawks.

Much like the third quarter, Atlanta got off to a hot start in the 4th. Terance Mann hit a three for his first points and after a Miami miss, Trae Young drilled a three to cut the lead to 86-83 and Miami called a timeout to calm things down with 10:36 left in the game. It was an 11-2 start to the quarter for Atlanta and Mann tied the game with a layup.

TIE BALL GAME. HAWKS BACK FROM 17 DOWN.#SoFiPlayIn on TNT pic.twitter.com/4FxrbzQzdR
— NBA (@NBA) April 19, 2025

After the game was tied, Young pulled up from three to take the lead 91-88 and Atlanta extended their awesome start to the quarter with a 21-6 run to take a 98-92 lead with five minutes left. Okongwu was the catalyst of the run, nailing a three and getting out in transition for a dunk to give the Hawks a six point lead.

Miami was not done though. After the timeout, the Heat got a quick 7-0 run to get the lead back with 3:03 left and Snyder called timeout to get his team ready for the final run.

The end of regulation was pure madness. After Miami hit some wild shots to stay in the game, the Hawks kept battling back, put it looked like Miami had a chance to put the game on ice up by one and Herro going to the line for free throws to try and put the Heat up two with 11 seconds remaining. He split the pair and Miami led by two with Atlanta getting the ball back.

Atlanta need a bucket from their best player and he delivered. Young tied the game with 1.3 seconds left and the game looked to be headed for overtime. Wiggins missed the final shot of regulation for Miami (barely) and overtime was up next.

What came next however is something Hawks fans and this team will be left with the entire offseason. Miami's offense caught fire, going 5-6 from three and outscoring the Hawks 17-8 in the period. Miami closed out the Hawks and advanced to the playoffs to face Cleveland, while sending Atlanta home.

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