Heat handle business at home and take 2-0 series lead

The Miami Heat had a bigger challenge this time around but get the same result as they defeat the Atlanta Hawks 115-105 in Game 2 to take a 2-0 series lead. They were led by their superstar Jimmy Butler, who had a playoff career-high 45 points tonight.

You knew coming into this game that you were going to see a much more engaged Hawks team after they were abysmal throughout Game 1. Trae Young specifically couldn’t get anything going, but looked much better in this one and was being used off the ball a lot more and was able to get to his spots more often. Still, Heat’s defense was still as physical as you would hope as a Heat fan as it forced Young into 10 turnovers. Even with Bam Adebayo dealing with foul trouble for the majority of this game, Erik Spoelstra pulled out one of the many options he has and put in Caleb Martin to play alongside PJ Tucker for an ultra small ball lineup and there were a lot of positives from these lineups. It's also important to note that the Hawks got a big time performance from Bogdan Bogdanovic, who scored 29 points on 12-for-18 shooting off the bench.

Butler was on another level throughout this game, but particularly in the first half and fourth quarter. He couldn’t be stopped whenever he drove to the lane and even shot 4-for-7 from downtown, continuing an incredible trend from deep that can take this Heat offense to the next level. He’s just showing the world that he is a star that can make buckets when he’s needed. I’m still a bit worried when things get in the mud and the Heat need to create something in the half court. There were moments throughout this game where the Heat just couldn’t get into their sets and were scrambling to get any sort of decent look. The inconsistent play Bam and Tyler Herro in the first two games of the series is a big reason why the offense in the half court hasn’t looked good. They need to be the aggressive versions of themselves we saw throughout this season.

There are a couple of other things I want to get to before I wrap this up. After Game 1, Jimmy was asked about the great game Duncan Robinson had and how he felt about it. While he gave Duncan his flowers, he made sure to talk about the improvements from Max Strus on the defensive end even when his shot isn’t falling. Today was a big example of that as Strus was a solid 3-for-8 from deep, but he also made some big defensive rotations that Robinson wouldn’t be able to do. There’s a reason Robinson only played seven minutes tonight.

Overall, the fact that the Heat have been able to win both games despite getting poor performances from both Tyler and Bam is a great sign. Bulter looks like he’s definitely locked in for this playoff run, Lowry and Tucker are providing a veteran presences and our bench has continued to perform at a high level. Now, lets keep it rolling into Game 3 as the Heat visit the Hawks in Atlanta for a chance to take a commanding 3-0 series lead.