For the primary two video games of this collection, Atlanta seemed like they had been enjoying with molasses on their sneakers. There was no fluidity, no movement, no sense of urgency obvious. The Hawks, who ended the common season atop the league’s offensive effectivity record, frankly, couldn’t purchase a basket in sport one or two. That was in Miami.
Friday night time’s Recreation Three in Atlanta was a unique story totally. The sellout crowd at State Farm Area was frantic from the opening tip, showering Hawks star guard Trae Younger with cheers and the visiting Miami Warmth with a monsoon of boos. There was a real playoff environment within the air as each Hawks gamers and followers understood the gravity of happening 3-0 within the collection, a deficit that’s by no means been overcome within the league’s playoff historical past.
In what was the collection’ finest sport thus far, all of it appeared to boil down to 1 play. Atlanta was capable of overcome a double digit fourth quarter deficit to take a one-point lead with simply 4 seconds left on the clock. Miami inbounded the ball from their sideline to Jimmy Butler, their stalwart chief with a knack for making the appropriate play. Solely this time, he didn’t.
Advertisement
Butler dribbled across the arc pursued by three Hawks defenders earlier than heaving up a prayer from deep that clanked harmlessly off the rim. Trae Younger raised his arms in triumph because the buzzer sounded and the roof practically got here off the health club as followers exploded with pleasure. The Hawks had come again from the land of the playoff lifeless.
The primary half of all three video games on this collection have run like clockwork. Each groups get off to a sloppy begin, then the circulate begins to relax as they settle themselves on the free throw line and we go into halftime nearly even. This has been the components for every sport thus far, with the Warmth capable of draw back within the latter halves of Video games One and Two. The Hawks jumped out to a little bit of a faster begin on Friday taking a seven-point lead into the half, maybe as a result of enjoying on their dwelling courtroom the place they’ve now gained 21 of their final 24 video games.
Instantly, it grew to become clear that Atlanta was taking up a unique method offensively. Often content material to let Younger tempo their offense, Coach Nate McMillan centered his squad’s efforts on ball motion and high quality three-point seems for function gamers who had been freed up by Miami’s deal with Younger.
How will Miami modify to the brand new sport plan by Atlanta with Trae Younger shifting the basketball extra and searching for completely different shooters?
Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports activities
Advertisement
Scroll to Proceed
Wingmen Bogdan Bogdanovic and Deandre Hunter each related on a number of three’s for the Hawks on their approach to 18 factors and 17 factors, respectively. Trae Younger, not one to be outdone, poured in 24 factors of his personal and 6 of Atlanta’s gamers completed in double digit scoring figures. This even unfold exhibits how far more efficient the Hawks offense is after they’re sharing the ball.
Not solely does the supporting forged get open seems, however so does Younger, one thing that actually contributed to his highest taking pictures proportion of the postseason on Friday. When the Miami Warmth return to State Farm Area on Sunday for Recreation 4, they’ll have changes to make in the event that they wish to go up 3-1 within the collection.
That closing play of the sport the place Butler compelled up a contested fade away three, was telling of Miami’s whole efficiency Friday night time. The alternatives had been there, and it appeared they might execute 90 % of the appropriate play earlier than falling sufferer to a head scratching mistake. A well-run offensive set leading to a missed layup, 24 seconds of lockdown protection solely to bail Atlanta out with an affordable foul. These had been the scenes that replayed themselves again and again in Recreation Three. The Warmth led the Hawks in assists, turnover differential, rebounding, and complete threes within the sport.
Three Warmth gamers, Jimmy Butler, Max Strus, and Tyler Herro scored 20 factors or extra and the workforce completed with 5 gamers in double figures. It was a sport by which Miami appeared like the higher workforce all the best way till the final 4 minutes of the sport. Miami’s versatile huge man, Bam Adebayo, believes that it was their lack of defensive depth as the sport wore on that value them ultimately.
Advertisement
“I really feel like that was the rationale why we had been up so huge. We had been moving into the ball, being bodily and simply taking away, like, their simple gateways to get simple baskets. I really feel like we let up somewhat bit” mentioned Adebayo postgame. At one level, the Warmth had even held a commanding 16-point lead with solely a few quarter left to play, however by no means may land a deathblow on the scrappy Atlanta membership.
Sunday night time the 2 japanese convention contenders will go toe to toe once more for Recreation 4 as Atlanta tries to even the collection at dwelling towards the highest ranked Warmth. Though the Hawks dramatically improved their efficiency within the paint, outscoring the Warmth 48-46, they’re nonetheless feeling the results of lacking heart Clint Capela. However there’s hope but for the Hawks trustworthy as Capela’s harm standing has been upgraded to questionable for Recreation 4. If Capela returns, it may swing the momentum in the direction of Atlanta and their Recreation
Three victory could have purchased them some valuable time of their look ahead to the massive man’s return. Warmth coach Erik Spoelstra, one of many nice motivators within the league, will little doubt be lighting a fireplace underneath his workforce in an effort to proper the ship and keep on their championship course. Count on Warmth ahead Jimmy Butler and Atlanta’s franchise participant, Trae Younger, to come back out weapons blazing on this pivotal Recreation 4 battle. The motion will get underway on Sunday night time at 7 p.m. EST when issues tip-off from State Farm Area in Atlanta.
12-year-old shot multiple times was selling water, mom says
A 12-year-old boy from Atlanta was rushed to the hospital on Friday after being shot multiple times. His mother told FOX 5 he was on his way to sell water with his older brother when someone began shooting.
ATLANTA – A 12-year-old boy from Atlanta was rushed to the hospital on Friday after a shooting near the intersection of Martin Luther King Junior Drive NW and Hamilton E. Holmes Drive NW. Investigators are now searching for the person who pulled the trigger.
Advertisement
The boy’s mother spoke exclusively with FOX 5 Atlanta. She said his life may never be the same.
“He was basically an innocent bystander that got shot,” the boy’s mother, who did not want to be named, said.
She told FOX 5 the boy was selling water with his older brother when someone started shooting.
Advertisement
Atlanta police confirmed the 12-year-old was shot multiple times just after 6 p.m.
“They was saying like a car drove by, shot at them,” the mother explained. “I’m beyond mad. It’s like I been crying, crying, crying, trying not to cry.”
Advertisement
The woman said her youngest son was struck three times. One of the bullets shattered his arm. A second hit him in the stomach, while a third is still lodged near his spine.
Medics rushed him to Egleston Children’s Hospital for treatment.
“They basically saying if the bullet is where his spine is at, 9 times out of 10, he could be paralyzed, ’cause he can’t feel his legs,” she said.
Advertisement
Atlanta police did not share additional details about a shooter. The mother told FOX 5 she believes it was a young person who pulled the trigger.
“I think shouldn’t no kids have a gun,” she said. “I think no kids should have a gun because they’re doing stuff like this, and I’m just glad my son made it.”
Advertisement
She says she won’t rest until she gets justice for her son. Doctors say he has a long road to recovery ahead of him.
In the meantime, the mother says she’s started a GoFundMe to try and cover his medical bills.
The Atlanta Falcons are hoping they found value for their defensive line on Day 2 and 3 of the 2024 NFL draft. In 2021, the Falcons did just that with center Drew Dalman.
Dalman was acquired in a draft-day trade with the Denver Broncos. The Broncos traded up to No. 35 and selected running back Javonte Williams. The Falcons used the 40th overall pick from the Broncos on safety Richie Grant and the fourth-round pick on Dalman.
Three years after Atlanta drafted Dalman at No. 114 overall, Pro Football Focus’ Zoltan Buday named the Falcons center the most underrated player on the team.
“With all other Atlanta offensive linemen being top-40 picks in their drafts — including three first-rounders — the former fourth-round pick Dalman could have stood out in a negative way, but that was not the case,” Buday wrote. “The Stanford product built on a promising 2022 campaign and ended up as the third-highest-graded center in the NFL in 2023 (82.3).”
Advertisement
Besides Dalman, the only starting offensive lineman the Falcons didn’t draft in the first round was left guard Matthew Bergeron. Atlanta grabbed him at No. 38 overall in the second round last offseason.
But according to the Pro Football Focus player grades, right guard Chris Lindstrom was the only Falcons offensive lineman better than Dalman last season. The Atlanta center earned a 82.3 PFF player grade. He particularly excelled at run blocking, posting a 90 grade.
Among centers who played 50% of his team’s snaps in 2023, Dalman was second best behind only Detroit Lions veteran Frank Ragnow. Dalman was also second best in run blocking to Ragnow.
While Dalman posted his best PFF player grades last season, he’s earned a “good” grade or better in all three of his NFL campaigns. In 2021, he had a 78.3 player grade as a rookie.
Behind that strong play, Dalman has helped the Falcons solidify their offensive line, which is a unit the team hopes will get more run blocking opportunities in 2024.
Advertisement
Super hyped rookie Bijan Robinson only recorded about 23% of his carries with the team possessing a lead last season. The Falcons should hope to get Robinson the ball a lot more with a lead in 2024, especially if Dalman blocks again as he did last fall.
ATLANTA (AP) — The last U.S. zoo with pandas in its care expects to say goodbye to the four giant bears this fall.
Zoo Atlanta is making preparations to return panda parents Lun Lun and Yang Yang to China along with their American-born twins Ya Lun and Xi Lun, zoo officials said Friday. There is no specific date for the transfer yet, they said, but it will likely happen between October and December.
The four Atlanta pandas have been the last in the United States since the National Zoo in Washington returned three pandas to China last November. Other American zoos have sent pandas back to China as loan agreements lapsed amid heightened diplomatic tensions between the two nations.
Atlanta received Lun Lun and Yang Yang from China in 1999 as part of a 25-year loan agreement that will soon expire.
Advertisement
Ya Lun and Xi Lun, born in 2016, are the youngest of seven pandas born at Zoo Atlanta since their parents arrived. Their siblings are already in the care of China’s Chengdu Research Center of Giant Panda Breeding.
It is possible that America will welcome a new panda pair before the Atlanta bears depart. The San Diego Zoo said last month that staff members recently traveled to China to meet pandas Yun Chuan and Xin Bao, which could arrive in California as soon as this summer.
Zoo Atlanta officials said in a news release they should be able to share “significant advance notice” before their pandas leave. As to whether Atlanta might see host any future pandas, “no discussions have yet taken place with partners in China,” zoo officials said.
(Copyright (c) 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Join our Newsletter for the latest news right to your inbox
