RECAP: Hawks Blown Out in Crucial Eastern Conference Matchup with Miami Heat In 131-109 Loss

Although they took care of the Heat on Monday with a 98-86 win, the Atlanta Hawks couldn't afford to let up in this game. They came into tonight with a 2-0 record over Miami, which is a critical factor to consider when evaluating their playoff hopes. Given that the Heat are only one spot below them in the Eastern Conference standings, clinching the season series against them is a massive incentive to play for.

Let's recap tonight's game.

While Atlanta's bench was excellent on Monday, Miami's rotation won the game tonight. Duncan Robinson had 24 points off the bench and went 6-13 from deep while Haywood Highsmith had 14 points on 4-5 shooting from deep. Those two alone combined for 38 points while the Hawks' entire bench had 45. It didn't help that Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro scored 20 points and 24 points respectively while Herro also dished out 10 assists. The real star of the night was Davion Mitchell - he scored 24 points while going 5-5 from deep to pair with six assists and two steals.

Atlanta's offensive output was more muted. Dyson Daniels led the team with 18 points while Trae Young had another quiet scoring night with 17 points and 8 assists. Zaccharie Risacher had 13 points and went 2-3 from deep in a bounce-back performance from a quiet night on Monday. Onyeka Okongwu had 13 points and nine rebounds. Although it didn't necessarily change the outcome, the Hawks' bench had another nice night. Caris LeVert had 17 points to go with 14 points from Terence Mann. However, Clint Capela and Georges Niang had difficult nights, grading out with a +/-of -19 in their minutes tonight.

Dyson Daniels got things going early for the Hawks with a floater, but Wiggins immediately answered with six straight points to give the Heat an early lead. After having only two points on 1-8 shooting against Miami on Monday, Risacher knocked down a three-pointer early and stayed aggressive throughout the quarter, sinking the jumper on his next possession en route to scoring seven points in the first quarter. He finished over Wiggins in the paint on the jumper, which is a good sign considering that Wiggins is an above-average defender. Risacher's passing has also slowly improved throughout his rookie campaign and it showed on a nice dish to Okongwu for the three-pointer. After going six straight games without a made triple, Okongwu hit two threes against Miami on Monday and kept it going tonight. Still, the Heat held a 19-12 lead with 5:16 left before LeVert came into the game and hit a three to draw Atlanta within striking distance. From there, both teams scored at will - Daniels had another excellent finish and Niang scored his first points of the game after Daniels found him on the perimeter for the triple. However, Atlanta's paint defense struggled to slow down Miami's offense and the Heat still held a 25-22 lead. Clint Capela came in to relieve Okongwu and instantly got a hook shot to drop. A quiet quarter from Trae Young came to an end when the Hawks guard nailed both his free throws to give Atlanta a slim lead that LeVert extended with a jumper. However, Highsmith nailed a late three-pointer to make it a 29-28 game in Miami's favor. The Hawks ended the first quarter by shooting 55% from the field and 4/7 from deep, which is especially solid considering Young's slow start. Still, Miami outlasted them by shooting 61.1% from the field and 4/8 from deep.

The second quarter was a very back-and-forth affair, but Atlanta did enough to keep Miami from taking the game over. Robinson immediately hit a three-pointer to open the quarter up, but Young scored five straight to tie it up for the Hawks. The teams traded buckets until Miami went on an 8-0 run in the middle of the quarter to give themselves a 48-40 lead. The Heat's atrocious three-point shooting played a big role in their loss on Monday, but they had no such issues tonight. Haywood Highsmith hit another three-pointer to give Miami a double-digit lead, but Terence Mann quickly cut into the deficit with his first three-pointer of the game. Miami came up with big threes from Herro and Highsmith again, but the Hawks kept battling back through the quarter courtesy of a big effort from Dyson Daniels and Caris LeVert. Young wasn't able to take over the game, but he slowed down the game by drawing fouls and sparked a 7-0 run for Atlanta to tie it at 62-62. Both teams headed into the half tied at 65 without either really pulling away.

In many of the losses Atlanta's had this year, a dismal performance in one quarter has sunk them. Tonight, that was the last five minutes of the third quarter. Risacher opened it up with a nice three, but the Heat just answered back with one of their own courtesy of Ware. Gueye then threw it down for a massive alley-oop dunk and the Hawks had some momentum after the big play. They got out to an 84-81 lead with 6:01 left in the game, but Davion Mitchell had other ideas, tying the game up on his first three of the game. Although LeVert answered right back with a three-pointer of his own, Mitchell went 5-5 from deep and was critical to Miami's win tonight. He went on to hit two more threes in the quarter, fueling a 16-4 run that ended the quarter with Miami in possession of a 107-93 lead.

The Hawks have shown the ability to come back from big deficits before, but it was not meant to be tonight. Mitchell started the fourth quarter off with another big three-pointer and the Hawks never drew within 15 points for the rest of the game. The end of the third quarter practically sealed their fate, but they just couldn't get any stops in the fourth quarter to possibly force the Heat into a cold streak.

Related Links