With the play-in tournament in sight, teams are pushing and shoving in the standings like bumper cars in an amusement park. Everybody wants to be in the top six and nobody wants to take their chances as the 7-10 seeds. Every game matters especially if you’re up against a team who can hold a tiebreaker over you in the standings.
The Heat, who are currently seventh with a 31-28 record, are right behind the Hawks and Celtics who have identical 32-27 cards. If the Heat can beat the Hawks and the Celtics lose to the Nets, then the race gets a whole lot more exciting with a three-way tie.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
The Hawks are a feisty and dangerous squad even if they’re battling with a handful of injuries. For starters, Trae Young will potentially miss time. Atlanta’s gunslinger went down with a sprained left ankle late in the Hawks’ last game against the New York Knicks. Fortunately, the X-rays came back negative.
Aside from Young, the Hawks’ injury list includes De’Andre Hunter (knee), Tony Snell (ankle), Clint Capela (back), Danilo Gallinari (foot), Kris Dunn (ankle), and Cam Reddish (Achilles). Capela and Gallinari are both questionable against the Heat and Snell remains doubtful, but all this means is that the Hawks are pretty banged up.
The Heat will still have to keep an eye on Atlanta’s John Collins who averages 17.8 points and 7.7 rebounds and sharpshooter Bogdan Bogdanovic who hoists up 14.5 points.
Momentum will be on the side of the Heat who have won three straight, including a 20-point beatdown on the Spurs in San Antonio. Jimmy Butler missed two straight games prior but came out with 18 points and 11 dimes in the victory. Tyler Herro had 22 points off the bench but is listed questionable against the Hawks because of a nagging foot injury.
The other must-watch game tomorrow is the Celtics-Nets battle.
The Celtics saw their six-game win streak halted by the Chicago Bulls, but bounced back in a big way with a statement win over the Phoenix Suns on Friday.
The huge story coming out of Boston was the stellar play of Kemba Walker. He matched his season-high of 32 points as he went 11-for-17 from the field. Walker, however, won’t likely play against the Nets since it will be the second day of a back-to-back and the team has been extra cautious of him all season long. Fellow star Jaylen Brown has a day-to-day status due to a sore left shoulder.
Boston will then have to rely heavily on the star power of Jayson Tatum against a Nets team who’s also been hampered by injuries. Kevin Durant is still sidelined because of his thigh as well as James Harden who is dealing with a hamstring issue. Kyrie Irving will have to put on a show once again but he needs support from shooters Landry Shamet and Joe Harris.
If the Nets get the W, not only will they get their 40th win in 60 games, but they’ll also move ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers for the best record in the East.
The race for the playoffs in the East will definitely get more interesting after Saturday’s games.
Catch the Heat vs Hawks (7:30 AM live) and Celtics vs Nets (12:30 PM same day telecast) on NBA TV Philippines via Cignal TV or NBA.smart, free for Smart Signature & Smart Prepaid subscribers with Giga Video subscription.
