By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Thanks to a floater in the lane by Trae Young with 4.4 seconds left that gave the Hawks a 111-110 victory over top-seeded Miami after Atlanta overcame a 16-point deficit in the second half.
The Hawks cut the Heat‘s series lead to 2-1. “I didn’t have any doubts,” Young said. “I was able to get to the basket and get my floater.”
Miami had one more chance to win it, but Jimmy Butler missed on an off-balance 3 at the buzzer with De’Andre Hunter in his face to give the Hawks a burst of hope in the best-of-seven series.
Young had 24 points despite another stout defensive effort by the Heat, Serb guard Bogdan Bogdanovic added 18 points, eight rebounds, and six assists, Hunter finished the night with 17 points, and Italian forward Danilo Gallinari scored 11 points.
Coming off a 45-point effort in Game 3, the best playoff game of his career, Butler was held to 20 in this one and missed a prime opportunity to put Miami on the cusp of a sweep.
Chris Paul scored 19 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter and the Suns overcame Devin Booker’s absence to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 114-111 in Game 3 of the first-round series.
Deandre Ayton added 28 points and 17 rebounds to help the top-seeded Suns take a 2-1 series lead. Paul scored 15 of Phoenix’s first 23 points of the final quarter. He also had 14 assists.
Brandon Ingram led New Orleans with 34 points. CJ McCollum had 30 and Lithuanian big man Jonas Valanciunas was held to six points and 11 rebounds.