betprepare.com

Hawks undefeated home

Both teams play well in defense lately, with the Hawks limiting their opponents to 93.5 in regulation time over the past six games, and Miami's rivals averaging 91,3 in their last four matches

After finally reaching their first away victory of the season against the Knicks, the Atlanta Hawks had their next test at home on Wednesday night, and won their third consecutive game against Utah.

In a game that displayed high scoring in the first three quarters (170), the Hawks were on the back foot before the last 12 minutes. Coach Budenholzer's team were behind by 6 points, 82-88, but then limited the opponents to just eight points in the remainder of the game, while they scored 18.


- We found a way to win, which is most important. I think our great defending in the last period gave us a chance to win. However, we have to analyze why we had poor periods in the first and third quarter- commented coach Budenholzer.


The best proof of bad defense by the Hawks in the first three quarters is the fact Jazz ended up the match with 50% shooting despite a disastrous last quarter. The Hawks on the other hand ended with 51.3%, while also having the advantage in rebounding 46-30.


The fact his alternation was gone (Scott, injured) was brilliantly used by Millsap, who totaled 30 (13/23) points and as many as 17 rebounds, while other notable performances were those by Teague with 20 (7/12) points and eight assists, and Korver, who managed to score 17 (5/10) points, catch 10 rebounds and still pass six assists.


- I was aggressive and I looked for the ball. The teammates found me and I made my shots- commented Millsap briefly on his performance.


The Hawks will try to continue their three-win streak tonight against Miami, whom they've already beaten in previous two games played in Atlanta. However, in their last four matches Miami limited their opponents to 91.3 points on average, so it's clear that the Hawks have a tough job ahead of them. It's also worth mentioning that Millsap's substitution Scott should be coming back tonight, while it's likely Caroll will miss this match as well, which means Sefalosha will start again.


After ending their two loss  mini-series with as many wins, Miami Heat hosted a team who were their great rivals in the past years, the Pacers, in front of their home fans. With their numerous injuries the Pacers seemed like the ideal opponent to continue their winning series against.


However, even without George, West and Stephenson on court, they managed to win using their tried and true recipe against Miami.


- We knew they'd try to make the game ugly regardless of who was playing. Tonight we reacted really badly- said Bosh briefly.


Regardless of the tolerable 6 point defeat in the end, this was yet another very forgettable performance by Miami. Coach Spoelstra's team were utterly beaten in rebounding, 28-53, and did very poorly from the free throw line, making only 8 of their 18 shots (44.4%).


- These are the games where you really want your team to find a way to win. We had some foul trouble (Bosh) tonight, and we missed quite a few free throws, but despite all that we still had our chance at victory, but did not take it in the end- said Spoelstra.


Only two players scored double digit points for Miami in the end. They were Wade with 20 (8/16), and Williams with his 15 (5/6). The disappointment was Bosh, who had minor foul trouble and ended with just 9 (3/13) points.


- The kind of offense we're playing depends largely on passing. They did a great job preventing that tonight- added Bosh.


With James gone, Bosh became one of the main players in Miami, next to Wade, so it's clear that their results suffer when Bosh is not performing. This is why it's alarming for Miami that Bosh averaged 12.7 with 5.7 rebounds in their last three games in Atlanta.

This text will be published soon.