Hawks mount fourth-quarter comeback, beat Heat 111-110 on Young’s game-winner

The Atlanta Hawks were at home for Game 3 against the Miami Heat. With the Heat leading the series 2-0, it was imperative that the Hawks came out with a lot of energy play better than they did in the first two games. Unfortunately, their start was delayed for an hour as there was a suspicious package found outside of the State Farm Arena. The good news was that it was nothing dangerous, and the game was able to begin.

The Hawks started off trying to attack the paint, with the help of De’Andre Hunter.

The Heat did the same thing, while they also drew a few fouls to get them to the free-throw line. The Hawks were still having a hard getting anything going on offense, as the Heat continued applying pressure in the halfcourt.

The Hawks began to pick up momentum on both sides of the ball late in the first quarter and began to pick up ground on the Heat. Being down by as much as eight in the quarter, the Hawks went into the second trailing 24-22.

Things began to look up for the Hawks in the second, and as Kevin Huerter made some big shots.

As he’s been so far in the series, Delon Wright was a game-changer for the Hawks in the second, getting offensive rebounds, and making plays on offense as well. With those plays, the Hawks were able to take the lead.

Something that the Hawks have struggled with through the series was making three-pointers, and they were able to do that in a stint during the second. That helped them extend their lead to 11 points, their largest of the series.

The Heat battled back to cut it to five, but the Hawks were able to keep composure and keep their lead. With all that John Collins has battled through with his finger, he was able to knock this three down in the corner to extend the lead to 10.

The Hawks probably played their best half of basketball in the series, and that helped them go into the locker room with a 61-54 lead.

Both teams came out in the third quarter sloppy, and it was hard to get a rhythm with the referees calling fouls on almost every other possession. The Heat played that to their advantage, and slowly began to creep up. With 6:39 in the third, the Heat tied the game at 68 with a three from Max Strus.

From there, the Hawks couldn’t find any consistent offense, and their defense began to fall apart.

With a 20-0 run from the Heat, they completely switched the game over to their favor, as they led by 15 points late in the third.

The Hawks made a mini-push to end the third quarter to cut their deficit down to eight points going into the fourth.

With the danger of going down 3-0 in the series, the Hawks had to play some of their best basketball in the fourth. Huerter got things going with this push shot early in the quarter.

The Hawks still had a hard time generating offense, and the Heat continued to make timely buckets. After a timeout, the Hawks got back on track and got some things going on offense. They were also able to get a few stops, as they cut their deficit down to six points midway through the quarter.

Like Game 2, Bogdan Bogdanovic came alive in the fourth quarter, giving the Hawks a much-needed boost on offense.

The Hawks continued to battle back, and the Hawks were able to tie the game with a three-pointer from Young.

The Hawks were then able to take a two-point lead with a pair of free throws from Young with 1:22 remaining in the game. With 54 seconds left Jimmy Butler found P.J. Tucker in the corner for a three-pointer, giving the Heat a one-point lead.

The Hawks weren't able to convert on their next possession, and the Heat were not able to as well with a missed Butler two-pointer with 12 seconds. The Hawks elected not to call a timeout after the rebound, and Young went coast-to-coast for his patent floater with 4.4 seconds remaining.

All the Hawks had to do was get one stop, and they did so as Butler missed the game-winning shot. The Hawks were able to pull off the win, and make the series 2-1.

Young finished with 24 points (14 in the final four minutes) and eight rebounds, Bogdanovic finished with 18 points, eight rebounds, and six assists, and Hunter finished with 17 points.

The Hawks will be back at home on Sunday to take on the Heat in Game 4.

Stay tuned.