Preview: Hawks venture to Miami to begin back-to-back

The entire NBA world took the night off on Monday to give way to the NCAA Championship Game but the Atlanta Hawks return to action on Tuesday in a road contest against the Miami Heat. In an interesting twist, the same two teams face off on Wednesday in Atlanta and, with Miami having quite a bit to play for down the stretch, the Heat should be motivated.

The Hawks actually won the last match-up between the two teams, holding serve at home back in mid-December. Of course, much has changed since then, with the Hawks entering this contest without Kent Bazemore, Dennis Schroder, Malcolm Delaney and others. However, there is faint hope that Atlanta could get its first look at Antonius Cleveland (listed as doubtful) and DeAndre’ Bembry projects to be in the lineup for this particular contest after returning over the weekend.

The good folks in Las Vegas install the Heat as sizable, 11.5-point favorites in this contest, foreshadowing what could become a lopsided affair. With only Isaiah Taylor healthy and available at point guard (and Josh Magette leading a band of players in Erie for the G League Playoffs), lineups could be interesting throughout the night but the Hawks and Heat have a history of putting interesting basketball on the court and we’ll see if that continues.

Stay tuned.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Tuesday, April 3, 7:30 pm ET

Location: American Airlines Arena

TV: Fox Sports Southeast, Fox Sports Go, NBA League Pass

Radio: 92.9 The Game (Atlanta)