NFL
By Monte Perez
The Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks come into this season with high expectations. The Heat lost in the Conference Finals to the Celtics last season, 4-3. Two years ago, the Hawks shocked the world before losing In the Conference Finals to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Heat:
Miami has started the season, 1-3. This team has been a 2-man show so far. Jimmy Butler leads the team, scoring 23 points per game, and Tyler Hero is averaging 21 points per contest. Hero also leads the team in rebounding averaging 8 per night. If the Heat want to be a top 4 seed in the East, they must find a legitimate 3rd scoring option.
Heat Scoring:
- Bam Adebayo, 13 PPG.
- Max Strus, 12 PPG.
- Kyle Lowry 10 PPG
In order for Eric Spoelstra’s to get wins, they are going to have to dominate on the defensive end and hope Butler and Hero can take over in the 4th quarter. Unless Pat Riley makes some trades, I would be shocked if this team makes a deep playoff push.
Hawks:
Atlanta is off to a 2-1 start. They could have the best starting 5 in the NBA.
- Trae Young, 25 points, 11.3 assists.
- Dejounte Murray, 19 points, 10.3 rebounds, 8 assists, and 3 steals.
- John Collins, 19 points, 10 rebounds.
- De’Andre Hunter, 14 points, 5 rebounds.
- Clint Capela, 8 points, 8 rebounds.
This is a unit that could lead the NBA in assists per game. They should also be a very good rebounding team. Their bench could be very productive with Aaron and Justin Holiday, Bogdan Bogdanović, Onyeka Okongwu, and Jalen Johnson. Nate McMillan’s challenge will be to get this team to play hungry every night. They had a lackluster performance at home on Sunday, losing to the Charlotte Hornets, 126-109.
There are no more excuses for McMillan. Atlanta has the best backcourt in the NBA and this team has enough talent to win 50-plus games. If they struggle early, look for management to make a coaching change.
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