Hawks shot down

Duncan Robinson couldn't miss shots. Trae Young couldn't make shots.

In simplest terms, that's how Game 1 went for Miami and Atlanta.

Robinson came off the bench to set a franchise playoff record with eight 3-pointers, and the top-seeded Heat forced Young into matching the worst-shooting game of his career on the way to a 115-91 win over the eighth-seeded Hawks in the opener of an Eastern Conference first-round series Sunday.

"It's always nice to throw the first punch," Robinson said. "But in the grand scheme of things, it's just winning one game."

Robinson scored 27 points on 9-of-10 shooting for the Heat, 8 of 9 from 3-point range. Jimmy Butler scored 21, PJ Tucker added 16 and Kyle Lowry had 10.

Robinson's eight 3s were the second-most in NBA playoff history by a reserve. Jason Terry had nine for Dallas in a 2011 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. JR Smith had eight for Cleveland in a 2015 game, also against Atlanta.

But this wasn't about offense for Miami. It was about defense, so much so that even Heat coach Erik Spoelstra－a former point guard himself－spent some possessions in a defensive stance, clapping his hands and imploring his team to dig a little bit deeper on that end of the floor.

"You have to be on edge," Spoelstra said.

The edge, for Miami, was razor sharp. Young went 1 for 12, matching his effort against Chicago on Jan 23,2019.

"You've got to give them credit," Young said. "They came out aggressive."

Danilo Gallinari led Atlanta with 17 points. De'Andre Hunter scored 14 for the Hawks and John Collins added 10.

Game 2 is Tuesday.

"I thought Miami played at another level," Hawks coach Nate McMillan said. "We talked about that in our locker room, that in the playoffs, there's another level you have to get to.... They showed us tonight there's another level we have to get to in order to compete in these playoffs."

Robinson broke the record of seven 3s that he previously shared with Damon Jones and Mike Miller.

He sizzled. The Hawks fizzled.

Young－who saw everything from traps to full-court pressure－was 0 for 7 from 3-point range and finished with just eight points, a season low. Bogdan Bogdanovic missed all eight of his shots, and the Hawks never led outside of a brief edge in the opening minutes.

Butler revealed the Heat game plan when it comes to defending Young: "Just make it physical on him, challenge every shot, keep him off the free-throw line and make him pass," he said.

It worked.

"I'm very confident we're going to turn this around," Young said.

Atlanta went 3-0 in Game 1s last year, all three of those wins on the road, coming by two, four and three points, respectively.

That was then.

Miami improved to 26-22 in Game 1s, including 20-7 at home－and 12-2 at home when playing host to a Game 1 in round one. Atlanta fell to 37-41 in Game 1s, a figure that includes a handful of one-game playoffs from the league's early days.

Agencies via Xinhua