The Atlanta Hawks confirmed that there was no explosives in the suspicious package found outside State Farm Arena ahead of their Game 3 with the Miami Heat.
The Heat-Hawks Game 3 was delayed because of the incident, with staff and security clearing out the people inside the arena as the Atlanta Bomb Squad investigates the package. Fortunately, there was no threat found and the game was then declared to be safe to resume.
“Prior to tonight's Eastern Conference First Round matchup between the Hawks and Miami Heat, a suspicious package was found outside Gate 2 of State Farm Arena,” the Hawks said in their statement.
“Out of an abundance of caution, Gates 1, 2 and 3 were temporarily closed by the Atlanta Police Department while the police department, K-9 units and Arena security worked to clear the area and investigate the contents of the package. The contents of the package were not found to be explosive, and the package was removed safely by the Atlanta Bomb Squad.”
Initially, the delay was only for 45 minutes from the 7:00 PM schedule. However, it was then delayed for another 10 minutes, with tip-off set at 7:55 PM.
Both the Hawks and Heat have since taken the court to warm-up following the scare.
UPDATE: The road just outside the Hawks' State Farm Arena has been closed by local police.
(📸 via @ChrisKirschner) pic.twitter.com/ETVxudwHLD
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) April 22, 2022
The Heat lead the series 2-0 after taking care of business at home. Now, Atlanta hopes they can do the same in their homecourt to even the series.
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