A injured Miami Heat are counting on unlikely substitutes to end the Atlanta Hawks, advance to the second round of the NBA Playoffs

Miami – The Heat missed two starting team players, but lost no game-five win 97-94 on Tuesday over the Atlanta Hawks to advance to the second round.

With Kyle Lowry Missed since late third quarter of match 3 due to a strain in his left hamstring and Jimmy Butler Dressed in street clothes due to inflammation in his right knee, Miami got a boost from a pair of unexpected replacements.

Victor Oladipowho has appeared in just 96 of 309 potential regular season games over the past four years due to knee and quadriceps injuries, and Max Strausswho was impolite and only appeared in two games aggregate with his first two NBA teams, picked the slack to help the Heat clinch their first home playoff since 2016.

Oladipo, who scored more points in the first five minutes of the first quarter (eight) than he scored in the first four games of the series (six), finished with 23 points in an 8-for-16 shot.

Strauss finished with 15 points and continued his personal 10-0 run from the 2:29 mark in the second quarter until 1:22 remained in the inning, turning Miami’s deficit to nine. The Heat pushed it to 12 by the end of the first half.

Beside that Pam AdebayoThe 20 had a 7 for 11 rebounds and 11 rebounds, which included a decisive dunk with 59.2 seconds, doubling the Heat’s two-to-four lead to help stave off a late Atlanta run.

Of course, it was a whole team effort from the Heat used to plug and play — Miami used 23 different starting lineups during the regular season on their way to the Eastern Conference’s first record.

And the team’s cohesion was quite evident on the defensive end, with Miami capping a zigzag streak for its own sake. Tra Young By holding the Atlanta star to 11 points in a 2-for-12 shooting (0 vs. 5 of 3) and six turns.

Young finished scoring more turnovers (30) than field goals (22) in his five games and three of his lowest four points all season.

Miami put the finishing touches to the winning by stopping the signing, not even allowing the Falcons to make a shot attempt on their final possession when they had the opportunity to tie it to 3 of the inside play out of time with 5.2 seconds remaining.

Tyler Hero, one of the finalists for the sixth man of the year, and scored 16 points from the bench. This was his eleventh game in the supplement with at least 15 points in reserve, cementing his lead in most similar games in the history of the Heat franchise, according to research by ESPN Stats & Information.

Miami will play the first-round winner of the Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors, with the Sixers leading 3-2, ensuring at least a few days off for Laurie and Butler.