After playing 25 of 41 away games, the Heat embark on an eight-of-nine home streak, and they got off to a perfect start with a 124-118 success against the struggling Hawks. An ideal way to find Florida but also Jimmy Butler, absent for three matches.
From this meeting, we will remember the somewhat crazy scenario with a Miami formation which takes a 17-point lead (30-13) thanks in particular to an unleashed Max Strus. The Heat scored 40 points in the first quarter, but fell asleep on its laurels. Result: Kevin Huerter and Danilo Gallinari loose the horses, and for the first time this season, Miami collects 40 points in a quarter. At the break, Atlanta leads by 6 points (70-64).
The 3rd Quarter allows to attend a duel between John Collins and Omer Yurtseven. The Hawks hold the right end, and Gallinari even gives a 10-point lead at the very end of the 3rd quarter. Except that the Heat defense will suddenly change things. Atlanta can’t find any more easy shots, and on the other side of the field, Tyler Herro catches fire. The Heat picks up the score (105-103) but the Hawks have the respondent with Collins and De’Andre Hunter.
At the start of “money time”, Kyle Lowy then Butler equalized (116-116) but Trae Young responded to them with free throws (118-116). There are two minutes left to play, and Atlanta will collapse. The Hawks no longer register the slightest point with an offensive foul for Young, a lost ball for Huerter, or even Collins blocked by Caleb Martin. Miami ends the match on an 8-0 to win 124-118, and take 2nd place in the Eastern Conference.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– Decisive Heat defense. In the last quarter, the Hawks lost more balls (7) than they scored baskets (6). The Lowry-Butler pair nailed their physique, while PJ Tucker took on the muscle behind it.
– Atlanta can do damage. The Hawks are the first team to plant 40 points at the Heat in a quarter, and it’s also the first team in two years to score 70 points at the break in the Miami hall.
– The Hawks slip… Ninth defeat in eleven games, and the 4th in a row for Atlanta. Once again, Trae Young’s teammates are managing the end of the game very badly. Nate McMillan’s coaching is not beyond reproach, as when he took out his substitutes when they had made the difference in the 3rd quarter.
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Tyler Herro. The 6th man of the Heat plays his role perfectly with 11 of his 24 points in the last quarter. It was he who had already stopped the bleeding at the very end of the 3rd quarter when the Hawks had taken a 10-point lead.
✅ Caleb Martin. Author of a decisive cons on John Collins in the “money time”, it does not make a sheet of stats very sexy with 2 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals and 4 faults. Except that it was he who limited Trae Young, especially in the 4th quarter.
✅ The Lowry-Butler pair. The two speak the same basketball, and they don’t pull the cover to them. They like to play others, and give confidence to their teammates. They delivered 18 assists, before hitting in “money time” with a 3-pointer from Lowry to equalize and this Kobesque “drive” from Butler to repel the Hawks.
⛔ The Young/Collins duo. The Hawks played best when they were on the bench, and both handled the game poorly. Clint Capela absent, Collins should play closer to the circle, while Young did not play enough others while Hunter or Huerter were in good evenings.
THE FOLLOWING
Miami (27-15) : complicated back-to-back with the reception of the Sixers.
Atlanta (17-24) : back-to-back also with a trip to New York.
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