Miami Heat vs Atlanta Hawks Prediction: Will the Hawks be able to take revenge and stop the Heat?

Miami beat Atlanta in the first round of the playoffs last season. Will the Hawks be able to take revenge and stop the Heat in the playoff round?

The Heat were a long-time contender for the top-6 in the league, but finished seventh in the Eastern Conference, one win behind top-seeded Brooklyn. The team would have to reach the playoffs via the play-in round. The good thing is that Miami can only win one home game, and that's against Atlanta, one of their most opponent-friendly teams in recent years.

Miami had an excellent final stretch in the regular season, winning four of their five games. The Heat lost only to Washington at this stage and managed to cope with Dallas, Philadelphia, Detroit, and Orlando.

The Hawks changed their head coach during the championship; Quin Snyder replaced Nate MacMillan. Under the guidance of the former Utah coach, Atlanta won a playoff spot, sitting in eighth place in the NL East. It should be noted that in the fight for eighth place, which allows entering the playoffs, having won only one victory, Atlanta beat Toronto in a difficult battle.

In its final two regular season games, Atlanta suffered losses to Eastern Conference co-leaders Philadelphia and Boston.

The upcoming meeting is an elimination game. So defense will likely come out on top. It's no coincidence that the opponents didn't play a single scoring game in the first round of the last playoffs, and, in all likelihood, they won't again. Miami is a very experienced team. Most recently, the Heat played in the NBA Finals, and last season, they made it to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost only seven games to Boston. We're betting on Miami here.