Hawks extend season for five minutes behind Young heroics, capitulate in OT 123-114

It was an exciting comeback in regulation, but overtime ended their season.

The Hawks came into tonight with their metaphorical backs against the wall. A loss tonight against the Miami Heat would end the season. With their usual late season starting lineup of Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, Mouhamed Gueye, and Onyeka Okongwu, it was now or never for the team to extend their season.

Right out of the gates, the Miami Heat went on an 10-0 run, scoring on every possession and preventing the Hawks from scoring at the same time. There’s really not much to say other than to flush the opening stretch and get back into the game.

Atlanta was able to put together a quick run of their own, however, punctuated by this Risacher transition and-1:

Atlanta slowly found some standing in this game by hitting the boards and creating some second chances for themselves during a rough shooting first quarter. Onyeka Okongwu finished the quarter with eight points and four rebounds — three of those rebounds coming on the offensive end.

Still, things were largely grim early on as the Hawks could find absolutely no rhythm or flow to their game offensively. Mercifully, the quarter came to a close at 33-24, largely due to a 9-for-25 (36%) start from the field and 1-for-10 (10%) shooting from three.

The second quarter was much of the same, although Atlanta didn’t let Miami run up the score too much. With their drastic shooting woes continuing for the sixth straight quarter, the Hawks trying to manufacture some scoring by going defense to offense:

Georges Niang did what he could to provide some scoring as well:

And Caris LeVert got the crowd on his feet with a nasty snatch back bucket:

The Hawks still found themselves in a hole, however. Miami was able to string together some scores and never let Atlanta all the way back.

A LeVert three with under three seconds cut the deficit to nine, where it stood as they teams entered halftime, 62-53:

Georges Niang was shockingly the high scorer for Atlanta with 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting off the bench. He played 12 minutes — every last second of the second quarter to be exact.

Atlanta hit the runway in the second half much better on offense than they did in the first half. First Dyson attacked the rim with authority:

Then Okongwu channeled his best Great Barrier Thief impression:

The Hawks narrowed the deficit to just three points with 8:46 remaining in the third quarter. But then the Heat countered with a 6-0 run, despite the Hawks having multiple wide open three opportunities that they couldn’t convert.

After that, the game went back and forth centered around a consistent nine-point lead or thereabouts. Anytime the Hawks hit a big three, the Heat conjured some magic and mirrored their efforts.

After three quarters, Miami led 86-77. With 12 minutes left to play — possibly in their season — Atlanta had to respond in a big fashion.

And respond they did. Terance Mann and Trae Young combined on two straight possessions for two triples to cut the lead down to just three in a jiffy:

Now, we had not just a game, but a GAME with elimination implications on the line.

Once the crowd really got into it, the Hawks fed off the energy and continued to hit the deck for every loose ball. They managed a few leakouts as well, like this transition bucket to tie the game for the first time since it was 0-0:

The Trae Young gave the good guys the lead for the very first time:

The entirety of State Farm Arena was rocking with each big play. Onyeka Okongwu stepped up to the mantel and put a charge in the crowd:

After building a six-point lead at one point, the Hawks stumbled, and the Heat took advantage heading into the final three minutes of the contest.

Atlanta hung tough and keep the game virtually within a single score even as Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo hit some unlikely looks.

With under a minute left to play, Georges Niang drove in and left a turnaround hook shot short with the Hawks trailing a point. Atlanta was forced to foul after the Heat got the rebound with under 24 seconds left.

Eventually the Hawks sent Herro to the line where he split his pair to put the Heat up just two points, 106-104. After a non-shooting foul, the Hawks went to inbounds the ball with 6.1 seconds remaining.

Trae picked the inbounds pass up in the backcourt then drove for a finger roll lay-in to knot the game at 106 with 1.3 seconds remaining:

An Andrew Wiggins fadeaway went begging, so the two teams headed for extra time.

Overtime was, to put it mildly, a calamity. The Hawks defended decently well, but Herro and Davion Mitchell of all people were completely locked in as shooters. The less said, the better.

The Hawks dropped their season finale 123-114. Young put up 29 points and 11 assists. Okongwu added 28 points and 12 rebounds. The Hawks now head into an uncertain offseason.

Thanks to everyone for your patronage during the 2024-25 season and please stay tuned.