Miami Heat-Atlanta Hawks Preview: Injuries, Odds, How to Watch & Starters

A full preview of Wednesday night's matchup in Atlanta.

Oct 26, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (7) looks on from the court after the game against the Dallas Mavericks at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Game date, time and location: Wednesday, Oct. 28, 7:00 p.m., State Farm Arena, Atlanta, Georgia

TV: WPLG Local 10 (South Florida), KFAA 29, Peachtree Sports Network, Atlanta News First, Amazon Prime Video (Atlanta)

Radio: 104.3 FM/560 AM, 710/1140 AM (South Florida), 92.9 FM (Atlanta)

VITALS: The Miami Heat (0-4) and Atlanta Hawks (2-2) meet for the first of four matchups this regular season. Last season, Miami won the series, 3-1, and has now won five of the last six overall against Atlanta. The Heat are 84-62 all-time versus the Hawks during the regular season, including 53-21 at home and 31-41 on the road.

The Hawks are coming off a season where they finished with a 46-36 record, good for the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. They went up 2-1 on the eventual champion New York Knicks in the first round of the Playoffs before losing three straight games.

In the 2026 NBA Draft, the Hawkks drafted Kingston Flemings with the 8th pick, Zuby Ejiufor with the 23rd pick and Henri Veesaar with the 52nd pick.

In a multi-team trade, the Hawks sent the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, Zaccharie Risacher, along with a top-55 protected second round pick, and received Lugentz Dort, Ryan Nembhard. Then, they dealt Nembhard and Buddy Hield to the Charlotte Hornets for Dorian Finney-Smith.

Finally, they sent draft capital in different trades with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Sacramento Kings to receive Aaron Wiggins and Devin Carter, (who they eventually waived), along with a future second round pick.

Additionally, the Hawks re-signed CJ McCollum and Jock Landale, brought in Jalen Wilson on a two-way contract and exercised their team option to bring back Mouhamed Gueye.

The Heat are coming off their 3rd straight home loss, fourth straight loss overall to start the season after a crunchtime loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

Betting Lines (via FanDuel Sportsbook)

Spread: Heat +2.5 (-122), Hawks -2.5 (+100)

Moneyline: Heat +110, Hawks -130

Total points scored: 241.5 (over -110, under -110)

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

QUOTABLE

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra on the team's 0-4 start: “We have the type of guys that have the toughness to be able to handle some adversity and collectively we’ll get together and continue to forge ahead, that’s all you can do right now. Nobody cares what’s going on with our scores, the league isn’t going to bail us out so it’s up to us to change it. There’s some better things that are happening but we have to get over the hump.”

PROJECTED STARTERS

HEAT

G Davion Mitchell

G Klay Thompson

C Bam Adebayo

F Andrew Wiggins

F Giannis Antetokounmpo

HAWKS

G CJ McCollum

G Nickeil Alexander-Walker

C Onyeka Okongwu

F Dyson Daniels

F Jalen Johnson

INJURY REPORT

HEAT

Keshad Johnson: Available - Hamstring (Two-Way)

Tre Donaldson: Available - (Two-Way)

Vlad Goldin: Available - (Two-Way)

HAWKS

Aaron Wiggins: Probable - Knee

Mouhamed Gueye: Out - Foot

Henri Veesaar: Out - Knee

Jalen Wilson: Available - (Two-Way)

RayJ Dennis: Available - (Two-Way)

Keshon Gilbert: Available - (Two-Way)

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STORYLINES

The 4 players who need to pick it up for the 0-4 Miami Heat

Does Giannis Antetokounmpo really make stars worse?

The time is now for Bam Adebayo as Giannis Antetokounmpo's sidekick

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For more Miami Heat information and conversation, check out Off The Floor.

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Alexander Toledo is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI and producer/co-host of the Five on the Floor podcast, covering the Heat and NBA. He can be reached at Twitter: @tropicalblanket