The first game of the NBA play-in tournament is the Atlanta Hawks facing the Miami Heat in South Florida. The Hawks are the eighth-place team going aginst the seventh-place Heat. The winner of this game moves on to face the 2-seed Boston Celtics, who are the reigning NBA Eastern Conference champions.
The Hawks have former USC star Onyeka Okongwu, who is no stranger to the playoffs.
Okongwu is in his third season in the league after going sixth overall in the 2020 NBA Draft. He has produced career-high marks across the board this year. Okongwu is averaging 9.99 points per game with 7.2 boards while playing 23 minutes per game, all of which are the best averages of his career to date.
With the Hawks’ play-in spot secured on Sunday, Okongwu got the start against the Celtics in the regular-season finale and scored 10 points with 9 rebounds and a 3-pointer.
Okongwu has 23 career playoff appearances, although he played sparingly during his first year with the Hawks in their run to the NBA Eastern Conference Finals.
Last year, the Hawks lost to this same Heat team in the first round, so perhaps there is a little revenge on their minds.
With the Heat deploying Bam Adebayo, Okongwu could be used quite a bit in this game with a lot at stake.
Onyeka Okongwu corner pocket đź’° pic.twitter.com/94NkrwdZOs
— Hawks Nation (@HawksNationCP) April 9, 2023
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