The Atlanta Hawks made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals last season. However, it doesn’t look like they will be repeating the same achievement this season, as they entered the playoffs as the eighth seed. They are currently down 2-0 to the #1 seed Miami Heat. The Heat look like the better team across all facets so far, but it would be silly to count out Trae Young after what he showed us last post-season.
Young had a tough start in Game 1, only making one field goal all game and ending up with just 8 points. However, he came back strong this game and had a 25 points night, even though his three-point shooting still hasn’t found its legs. Young went 2/10 from three in Game 2.
The reason why Young is also not being able to dominate is the physical defense that the Heat play to restrict space for any shooters. However, Young believes the refs are holding their whistle a little too much against the Heat.
Trae Young:
“If the refs are gonna let them be that physical and not call fouls, it’s gonna be hard to do that (win) anyway.”
— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) April 20, 2022
Game 2 saw the Hawks only get 14 shots at the line, while the Heat were given 29 shots. That is a disparity of over 100%, which does indicate that calls are going to one side. However, the script was flipped in Game 1 as the Hawks had received 27 free throws to Miami’s 18.
Refereeing across games is rarely consistent in the NBA. A lack of consistency is the last thing you want referees to have when they are making decisions that can change the entire game.
Young can feel aggrieved as the referees did hold their whistle for certain calls against the Hawks. We are seeing other coaches complain about free throws as well, which means it may be a larger problem within the league in how these games are officiated. Hopefully, we don’t see players complain like this about the refereeing, but we all know this will continue as long as one team is getting a certain number of extra shots than the other team.
