| 25 April 2009
Boy, after a horrific game 1 showing, the Heat are now sizzling. The scary part is that it's on both ends of the floor. For as poor as they played in game 1 scoring 67 points, they only allowed 78 points from the Hawks tonight. For Atlanta fans, this has to be a disappointing turn of events after playing so well as a team collectively in game 1. The fact of the matter is this - in the playoffs when teams each win a game out of the first two, the team that wins the third game advances close to 76% of the time; that's a bad sign for Hawks fans. However, perhaps even more troubling for Atlanta is their lack of energy and explosiveness on both ends of the floor. I, along with the state of Georgia, was very surprised this was the way they responded after a poor outing in game 2. The Hawks players will maintain this series isn't over, but their play hasn't inspired any confidence what-so-ever to think they have a shot at winning any more games.
Why the Heat won
As I mentioned in the series preview, Dwyane Wade is going to need help from his teammates if they are going to win; and boy did he get help tonight. All starters were in double figures including Jermaine O'Neal had a solid 22 points and 10 rebounds and Mario Chalmers who added 15. But most importantly, Dwyane Wade was all over the floor. He was absolutely spectacular tonight on both offense and defense creating highlight after highlight which kept the crowd electrified. His stat line was incredible - 29 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Just as I was beginning to accept that Lebron had the MVP award all but locked up (and he probably does) Dwyane Wade has a game like this to make me question myself.
Why the Hawks lost
If you're leading scorer of the night was 13 points, chances are you didn't win. Also, if you shoot 37% from the field as a team you're not going to win many games. Unfortunately for the Hawks, both were the case tonight. Joe Johnson was again outplayed by Dwyane Wade and was a horrid 5-17 from the floor. However, the other Hawks stars weren't any better; Josh Smith was 5-14 and Mike Bibby was 5-13. It's certainly not one of those nights you can just chalk up to not being "on", the truth was they just didn't seem like they wanted to play at all. There was no fire, no intensity, and no heart; pretty disappointing for a team that took the defending champions to 7 games last year.
Heading into the next game, what to look for
If the Heat are still firing remotely close to how they were in games 2 and 3, look out Atlanta. What has to be scary for this Hawks team is the confidence the Heat's young players have now, especially after how they failed to show up in game 1. Dwyane Wade is playing like a man on a mission and I wouldn't expect that to change in Miami for game 4. Atlanta doesn't seem like a resilient team when their backs are up against the wall and the Heat are streaking at the right time. And if Jermaine O'Neal plays like he did tonight, Atlanta has no shot.
Prediction for next game
The Heat are on fire right now, and their confidence is sky high; look for this series to be 3-1 heading back to Atlanta.
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