Tyler Herro scored 16, Max Strus scored 15 and Caleb Martin added 10 for the top-seeded Heat, who got the clincher with Butler and Lowry sitting out with injuries.
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Victor Oladipo and Bam Adebayo inspired a Miami Heat without Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry to down the Atlanta Hawks 97-94 and make their way to the Eastern Conference semifinals on Tuesday.
It was a defensive masterclass from the Heat as they held Trae Young to a measly 11 points in what was a hugely disappointing game for the young shooter.
“The biggest thing about this game was our defense,” Adebayo said.
Victor Oladipo scored 23 points, Bam Adebayo added 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat.
The Heat swarmed Young from the start of Game 1 to the end of Game 5, holding Atlanta’s high-octane scorer to a 15.4-point average in the series on 32% shooting. Young had as many assists as he had turnovers, 30 of each.
“They’re a good defensive team,” Young said. “Their team is more of a system than who they have on their team. No matter who they have out there, they can play. And when they’ve got a guy that they’re targeting and trying to take away, they do a really good job of doing that.”
Tyler Herro scored 16, Max Strus scored 15 and Caleb Martin added 10 for the top-seeded Heat, who got the clincher with Butler and Lowry sitting out with injuries.
Young had a poor shooting night where he went 2 for 12 from the floor, scoring just 11 points. De’Andre Hunter scored 35 for Atlanta, which got 12 apiece from Kevin Huerter and Danilo Gallinari.
“Obviously, I didn’t shoot the ball well,” Young said.
Hunter fouled out of the game with 41.6 seconds left, Miami clinging to a three-point lead at the time. The Hawks got a stop, taking over with 29.2 seconds remaining, and retained possession after a missed shot from Gallinari went out of bounds. The Hawks never got another shot off, time expired and Miami moved on.
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Atlanta coach Nate McMillan said, “They are a hell of a team. Those guys compete every second that they’re out on the floor and I have a great deal of respect for how they play.”
Onyeka Okongwu’s three-point play got Atlanta within 79-76 early in the fourth, the Hawks clawing back after being down by as many as 15.
But Herro hit a high-arcing jumper from the lane, Miami got a stop, and Oladipo hit a left-wing 3 on the next Heat possession to push the lead back to eight with 7:29 remaining. That’s how the final minutes went: Atlanta made a charge, and Miami would hold it off, all the way to the end.
