The Miami Heat made a run to start the third quarter. The Atlanta Hawks closed it out with a jam.
Okongwu soars up and dunks the alley-oop pass off Jalen Johnson. Lowry flops and almost scores at the other end, at the end of the 3rd quarter. pic.twitter.com/yMt9CHJyrY
— hoops bot (@hoops_bot) April 12, 2023
Onyeka Okongwu threw down an alley-oop to restore Atlanta's 13-point halftime lead to end the third quarter of the Hawks' play-in win. It was emblematic of the entire game, where the Hawks dominated the paint all the way through. Atlanta had 22 offensive rebounds to Miami's six, and 63 total rebounds to Miami's 39.
A big part of that paint dominance was a result of Okongwu's defense. He had four blocks, delivered in a variety of ways. He swallowed up All-Star Bam Adebayo with a two-handed block in the lane, forcing a jump ball (which he won).
WOW, what a block from Okongwu pic.twitter.com/LNfhBzWoRg
— Mo Dakhil (@MoDakhil_NBA) April 12, 2023
Okongwu also showed incredible range by prowling out to the perimeter and stuffing a three-point attempt from Max Strus.
Okongwu SMACKED that shit pic.twitter.com/4OhS8Wa1aJ
— Brett Usher (@UsherNBA) April 12, 2023
And when Okongwu wasn't sending back shots, it was Clint Capela, who also pulled down a whopping 21 rebounds, eight of them on the offensive end.
[clint capela suddenly appears] pic.twitter.com/MYIiojWCVu
— Dan Favale (@danfavale) April 12, 2023
Atlanta will be heavy underdogs against the Boston Celtics, but this interior dominance gives a template for how the Hawks could pull the upset against the often-undersized Celtics.
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