Who were the unsung heroes that helped the Atlanta Hawks stun the Orlando Magic and Washington Wizards upset the Miami Heat?

Kyle Irving

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Who were the unsung heroes that helped the Atlanta Hawks stun the Orlando Magic and Washington Wizards upset the Miami Heat? image

There was madness in the Southeast Division to kick off Tuesday's slate.

The last place Atlanta Hawks entered tonight's matchup on a 10-game losing streak, traveling to Orlando to take on the Magic without star guard Trae Young (ankle).

The Washington Wizards – who owned the fourth-worst record in the NBA – were facing off against the red hot Miami Heat without star guard Bradley Beal (leg).

These two absent players will likely both be All-Stars this year and somehow, without them, their teams each pulled off unpredictable wins over a two teams in the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

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But how? Who were the unsung heroes that stepped up?

Brandon Goodwin's career-game leads Hawks past Magic

The Trae Young-less Hawks snapped their 10-game win streak behind a career-game from... Brandon Goodwin?

Atlanta entered this game with just six wins against the current No. 8 seed in the East and somehow came away with a win, thanks to a career-game from this undrafted second-year player.

Goodwin went for a career-high 21 points shooting 7-for-11 from the field and 3-for-4 from beyond the arc. He also added six assists, three rebounds, two steals and one block going a team-best plus-22 +/- to lead the Hawks to victory.

So who is Brandon Goodwin?

Goodwin is currently on a two-way contract with the Hawks. He went undrafted in 2018 and spent all of last season on a two-way contract with the Denver Nuggets.

Goodwin started his college career at the University of Central Florida before transferring to Florida Gulf Coast University, where he finished his college career. He wasn't any scrub in college, earning Atlantic Sun Player of the Year his senior season.

Tonight, he enjoyed the best game of his young NBA career.

McRae, Mathews and Mahinmi combine for 82 points to beat Heat

The Heat entered this contest on an NBA-best five-game win streak. With the Wizards missing All-Star guard Bradley Beal that should be an easy win, right? Wrong.

Just as you would've expected, Jordan McRae (29 points), Garrison Mathews (28 points) and Ian Mahinmi (25 points) combined for 82 points to pull off an upset over a fully healthy Miami squad.

McRae was a problem, going 9-for-14 from the field and 6-for-8 from three with eight assists, four rebounds, two steals and one block and Mahinmi had a career-high 25 points going 10-for-11 from the field, but you've already likely heard of these two players in some capacity.

This is McRae's fourth year in the NBA and was a part of the 2015-16 NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers. Mahinmi is a 12-year veteran who has made a solid impact off the bench on a variety of teams.

The real unknown comes from, who Mathews enjoyed a career-high 28 points shooting 6-for-9 from the field but most impressively, 12-for-13 from the free throw line.

So who is Garrison Mathews?

Mathews went undrafted at the 2019 NBA Draft but immediately signed a two-way deal with the Wizards.

He was a mid-major star at Lipscomb University, becoming the school's Division-I all-time leader in scoring and 3-pointers made. He earned Atlantic Sun Player of the Year his senior season after averaging over 20.0 points per game.

This was only Mathews' 11th NBA game and he had never reached double-figures prior to this outburst.

Kyle Irving

Kyle Irving Photo

You read that wrong – not Kyrie Irving. From Boston, graduated from the University of New Hampshire. Sixth season as a content producer for NBA.com's Global editions. Covering the NBA Draft has become his annual "dream come true" moment on the job. Irving has a soft spot for pass-first point guards, with Rajon Rondo and Steve Nash being two of his favorite players of all time.