A little over a month ago, the Atlanta Hawks defied most expert predictions (that is if we’re considering people who think Kevin Huerter still plays for the Hawks to be “experts”) by beating the Miami Heat 116-105 in the seven versus eight seed play-in game.
The contest clinched Atlanta’s spot as the seventh seed in the 2023 NBA Playoffs while Miami was forced to play another play-in game, which they won by the skin of their teeth against the Chicago Bulls.
Neither the Hawks nor the Heat looked particularly impressive in the April 11 Atlanta win, and most talking heads expected both teams to be early dismissals in the playoffs at the hands of the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks, respectively.