Everything is on the line when the Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat slug it out on Saturday, April 19 for the right to claim the East no. 8 seed.
Win or go home. The fight for the final #NBAPlayoffs spot in the East is going down Friday on TNT 😤@MiamiHEAT vs @ATLHawks // 7:00pm ET
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 17, 2025
Whichever team climbed out of the play-in stage will challenge the conference top-seed and 64-win team Cleveland Cavaliers in a best-of-seven first-round showdown.
🏆 PLAYOFF PICTURE 🏆
— NBA (@NBA) April 17, 2025
?? Winner of MIA/ATL with play #1 CLE
?? Winner of DAL/MEM will play #1 OKC#NBAPlayoffs presented by Google begin April 19th!
It will be the second time in three years that the Hawks and Heat will compete against each other in the play-in stage. In 2023, Atlanta came out on top over Miami to claim the seventh spot. Both teams split the season series at 2-2 this 2024-25 campaign with each squad defending court in all four meetings.
Saturday’s game will be the second and final chance for the Hawks to qualify in the playoffs after dropping a 120-95 decision to the Orlando Magic in the seven-eight duel.4
[ALSO READ: Cole Anthony, Anthony Black lead Magic bench mob vs Hawks, secure East no. 7]
That game saw superstar Trae Young racked up a team-high 28 points before getting ejected with 4:47 left in regulation via his second technical foul of the contest.
"They're [Magic] a physical team. But there's a lot of plays & moments that guys want to try to be more physical, to the point where it's not even necessarily basketball. Sometimes, I take my frustrations out on the refs not just for me but [for] my teammates [as well],” the 26-year-old told reporters in the post-game press conference.
With a win over Miami, the Hawks will snap a two-year playoff drought after making it to the postseason in three straight years from 2021-2023.
Meanwhile, the Heat will play their second consecutive do-or-die game in the last three days with all the momentum on their side.
Miami put on a defensive masterclass to knock off the Chicago Bulls, 109-90, and moved on into the next round of the East play-in tournament.
[ALSO READ: Tyler Herro-powered Heat send Bulls packing, to face Hawks for final East playoff spot]
Tyler Herro scored 23 of his 38 points in first-half as the Heat limited the Bulls to a season-low output in scoring on top of tallying 10 steals and seven blocks.
“The most important thing today is that we imposed the will defensively and competitively. Those will remain true as we get into Atlanta. We just have to get to it,” Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra said.
If the Heat make the playoffs, it would be their sixth consecutive postseason appearance, which would match a franchise record.
