1. Game 4 is often the pivot point in a series. If the higher seed handles business at home, then they’re either returning with a 3-1 advantage or the lower seed has extended it to six games and it’s 2-2. With the stakes as such, it can often be the best game in a series. The HEAT weren’t having any of that as they claimed a 110-86 road victory that wasn’t competitive by the final period, posting a Defensive Rating of 96.6.
Did the HEAT play well in the first half with Kyle Lowry sidelined with a hamstring injury? Hardly. But as they often do, they found way to be effective even when nothing they were doing could be described as the beautiful game. They crashed the glass. They got to the line. They filled the margins. Most importantly, they had the first zero-turnover first-half in franchise history. With the Hawks threatening to extend their lead to double digits – and finding plenty of ways to stumble over their own feet in the process, including throwing an inbounds pass directly to Jimmy Butler (36 points, again dominant on both ends of the floor) under the basket – Erik Spoelstra went to his small-ball unit, P.J. Tucker at center and inserted Victor Oladipo for the first time in the series. And with Butler (19 points in the first half) taking advantage of the resulting spacing while the defense locked in, Miami ran off a 26-4 run going into the break.
Atlanta absorbed a 21-0 run in Game 3 and came back to win, so they’ve showed that they have the fortitude to recover from a bad stretch. Maybe they would have done the same tonight, but Miami never let their foot off the pedal defensively even for a second. The continued to keep Trae Young out of the paint by loading up multiple defenders in front of him and everyone else stayed solid in their individual matchups. Game 4’s may often be exciting, but the HEAT sucked the life – and the fun – out of the building by turning this into a defensive battle. The better defense won.
2. We’re talking about Trae Young for the fourth game in a row, for good reason. While we should note that Young tweaked an ankle early in this one and may not have been full healthy while on the court, what the HEAT have done to him in this series has been constant and consistent. Anytime Young has the ball behind the arc he has one defender in front of him and two more shading the drive on either side. The result has been Young rarely getting the ball in the paint – really, rarely getting it even in the direction of the paint as Miami’s scheme has kept him moving the ball East-West. Game 1 was one of Young’s worst shooting games of his career. Game 2 was a career-high 10 turnovers. Game 3 he scored 24, but still had his drives well below his norm despite the game-winning floater in transition. And tonight, he scored nine points on 3-of-11 from the field, with just one of those 11 shots coming inside the arc.
Butler has been the best player in this series by a good margin, but so far the series has been decided by how Miami – hunting him on the other end of the floor – has handled one of the highest usage players in the league in Young.
3. A bunch of smaller notes worth mentioning. With Lowry out, Caleb Martin returned to the rotation as Spoelstra continued to use the press-zone while challenging Tyler Herro to pair with either Martin or Gabe Vincent (tonight’s starter in place of Lowry). Oladipo only shot 1-of-8 (and was plus-28 when on the court) but played a significant role in that second-quarter run as the Hawks were suddenly without any pressure points to attack in Miami’s defense – not that Miami’s defense was giving up anything easy after the opening stretch. Miami committed zero turnovers in the first half for the first time in franchise history in a postseason game. P.J. Tucker hit just his third top-of-the-arc three of the season (off an Oladipo drive-and-kick) and was able to get to his seldom-used but typically effective post game in attacking Young in the third quarter.
Finally, the HEAT finished the evening with an Offensive Rating of 126.4 (13-of-42 from three being a major factor there) but just 90.8 points-per-play in the halfcourt. That’s a huge split, but the latter number doesn’t include offensive rebounds and second chances, of which the HEAT had 15. Miami’s hasn’t been as committed to the offensive glass since the opening months of the season, but they have the personnel to do it when called upon. As usual, when one thing fails they have players who problem solve and find other ways to make an impact.