Miami Heat fans were ready to reinforce narratives after blowing a 17-point lead and nearly letting victory slip against the Atlanta Hawks Friday night.
Davion Mitchell answered the call, dominating in overtime to advance the Heat to the postseason.
After a one-point first half, Mitchell exploded with 15 for the rest of the game. He scored nine in overtime on 3-of-4 shooting from the arc, including the game-winning 3-pointer.
Mitchell has enjoyed an incredible season as a complementary player in Miami, and Friday night illustrated the player he can be.
His prolific performance almost made fans overlook Tyler Herro's star performance. Herro had 30 points on 47.6 percent shooting, with his fourth-quarter hot streak preventing the Hawks from running away with the victory late.
Haywood Highsmith, Andrew Wiggins, and Bam Adebayo's contributions should also be appreciated. They all played 40+ minutes, logging double figures in scoring. They combined for 49 points and 29 rebounds, with Adebayo and Highsmith putting up double-doubles on the evening.
Heat fans are probably breathing a sigh of relief knowing they made the postseason again. But also to avoid being reduced to George Niang memes once again. The veteran forward had 20 points, looking more like Nikola Jokic than a 31-year-old bench player.
The Heat are the first No. 10 seed to advance to the playoffs since the play-in tournament was introduced. They come out of the play-in for the third consecutive season as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.
They play the Cleveland Cavaliers in Rocket Arena for Game 1 Sunday night.
