After a disappointing regular season that saw the Atlanta Hawks finish as the number nine seed with a 43-39 record, they were able to come away with an impressive victory in the 9-10 NBA play-in game on Wednesday. The Hawks took down the Charlotte Hornets with a score of 132-103.
Atlanta was able to get monster contributions out of multiple guys as they had six players in double figures. Trae Young did his usual thing by leading the way with 24 points and 11 assists. Clint Capela also had a stellar game as he finished with 15 points and 17 rebounds.
Atlanta will now travel to the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers lost the 7-8 play-in game to the Brooklyn Nets by seven points. The winner of this game is going to advance to the first round of the NBA Playoffs and take on the Miami Heat, while the loser will start their offseason a few weeks early.
Although Cleveland did have an impressive season, Atlanta was able to go 3-1 against them. Most of the games were close except the last one between these two teams, as the other three games were within eight points.
When looking at the advanced metrics for this matchup, it’s tough to say who is going to be able to walk away with a win. Neither team necessarily had a great season in terms of net rating as Atlanta finished with the 14th rated net rating and Cleveland finished with the 13th.
One thing that is going to be interesting to see in this one is that they both play a different style of basketball. Cleveland has a high-level defense, while the Atlanta Hawks have a high-level offense. Atlanta finished the regular season with the second-rated offense and the 26th-rated defense. The Cavaliers finished the regular season with the 20th-rated offense and the fifth-rated defense.
The game will be played on Friday at 7:30 EST.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
