Atlanta prevails at home

The Atlanta Hawks defeated the Miami Heat 106-91. Joe Johnson seemed to finally get it going offensively scoring 25 points. A key to that change was he got to the free throw line more and made them count. Johnson shot 12-15 from the line well above the 52% he was shooting prior to that. He also did the other things that makes his game so versatile adding 6 assists and 6 rebounds. Josh Smith added 20 for the Hawks despite his late game blunder. Dwyane Wade was beat up in the physical game throughout. He was still able to put up a game high 29 points. Suffering from back spasms and tough collision caused him to hit his head on the floor. Referree's foul calling is and will remain to be crusial to these playoffs. Many argue the flagrant foul on Wade's block attempt at the rim of a Maurice Evans dunk try was a bad call. Ref's have to weigh the play and the plays that lead up to them in order to come up with the best call. I will admit I wouldn't want their job at playoff time. Miami will look to regroup and hold of elimination at home Friday May 1.

Hawks even series

The Hawks began Game 4 scorching and finished the game with a victory despite foul play at the end of the 1st half. The Atlanta Hawks beat the Miami Heat 81-71. It was Atlanta's first road playoff victory in almost 12 years. Ugly but I'm sure they would take it, tying the series at 2 heading back to Atlanta. Atlanta allowed frustration by calls form the official and lack there of, to affect their play. James Jones hit two 3 point baskets while being fouled in about 11 secs. Two four point plays in succession is almost unheard of. Starting Atlanta Hawks players shooting continued to struggle especially from All-star guard Joe Johnson. Johnson finished with 14 points on 5-12 shooting and 5 assists. In this series Johnson is averaging 13.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. He is shooting 38% from the field and 22% for 3 point range. All these statistics are well below his season average where averaged 21.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.8 assists while shooting 44% from the field and 36% from 3. Lucky for Atlanta reserves Zaza Pachulia and Flip Murray sparked them Pachulia finished with 12 points and 18 rebounds. Murray added 11 points and clutch baskets down the stretch. A cause of concern for Miami is the well being of Dwyane Wade. Wade is suffering from back spasms and opened up the game with two air balls. Although Wade finished with 22 points 6 rebounds and 7 assists, he only shot 9-26. Jamario Moon has been diagnosed with a sports hernia that will require surgery ending his season. Game 5 will be Wednesday April 29.

Wade shows Flash-es of his normal self

Dwyane Wade tallied 33 points and 7 assists to help the Heat even their series at one with the Atlanta Hawks. Wade hit a tough fading bank shot for 3 despite tough defense from Joe Johnson to seal the deal for Miami. Wade scored 13 consecutive points in the second quarter as Johnson sat out with foul trouble. This staggered the Hawks as they inevitable were unable to fully recover. A late run by Atlanta made it interesting until Wade made the remarkable shot he admittedly did not call "bank" for. Miami's problem in game 1 was lack of scoring, particularly helping Wade who was keyed upon defensively for Atlanta. Jermaine O'Neal would change that finishing with 19 points while Daequan Cook of the Heat came off the bench to add 20 of his own. Despite having 6 players scoring in double figures Atlanta only shot 44% from the field while Miami shot 56%.