The Atlanta Hawks and the Miami Heat are facing off Tuesday in the first 2023 NBA Play-In Tournament game. Before the tilt, Charles Barkley gave a scorching take on Trae Young and the Hawks that will agitate the Atlanta faithful.

“Yeah they [the Miami Heat] are going to beat the Hawks. Come on, the Hawks stink.”

Barkley was forthright in his analysis of the Atlanta Hawks, which is what is usually asked of the NBA on TNT guys. For Hawks fans, they will be disappointed that it was as blunt as “the Hawks stink.”

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Atlanta is visiting Miami as the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference with a record of 41-41. They have been the epitome of mediocre this year, and the Heat are hoping to dispel of them easily.

Miami is a slightly better 44-38 and the 7th seed, although they also underperformed this season. Whoever wins Tuesday's matchup between the two will be the 7th seed in the NBA Playoffs for the Eastern Conference, earning a first-round series with the Boston Celtics.

Miami had the edge over Atlanta in the regular season, taking three out of the four matchups between the two teams. The Heat won both games in Miami, so they will be expecting a similar outcome in the first game of the NBA Play-In Tournament.

Charles Barkley certainly has an opinion about who is going to win this game, and he is not mincing words when saying so. Hawks fans hope that Barkley will have to eat those words and that Atlanta moves on to the 2023 NBA Playoffs.