In a matchup featuring the two fastest teams in the NBA, the Atlanta Hawks were in South Beach to take on the Miami Heat on Tuesday evening. After dropping two consecutive games against Houston and Indiana, the Hawks were looking to get back to winning ways — and keep the surging Charlotte Hornets* off their tails for the 10-seed in the Eastern Conference.
*winners of seven straight!
The Hawks were without Kristaps Porzingis* (illness) and Onyeka Okongwu (dental fracture) for this one. Meanwhile, Miami were missing Andrew Wiggins (left hamstring tightness), Tyler Herro (ribs), and Norman Powell (personal) — who was named to his first career All-Star game on Sunday.
Atlanta reinserted Christian Koloko into the lineup tonight, as he joined Daniels, Alexander-Walker, Risacher and Jalen Johnson in the starting unit. Davion Mitchell, Pelle Larson, Myron Gardner, Simone Fontecchio and Bam Adebayo started the game for Miami.
Miami’s pace was on display early on, as they raced out to a 9-3 lead with multiple buckets in transition before back-to-back triples from Risacher and Alexander-Walker got Atlanta settled into the contest.
Though Norman Powell was sidelined for this one, Jalen Johnson reminded the Miami crowd that there was still an All-Star competing in tonight’s game — slicing through the lane for this emphatic jam on Jaime Jaquez Jr. mid-way through the quarter to put the Hawks up 17-13.
Miami knotted things at 19, before a 14-4 Hawks run over the last four-and-a-half minutes of the period put the good guys up by 10 heading into the second quarter. Though Risacher gets the highlight for this deft finish in transition — CJ McCollum was instrumental for Atlanta during this run, pouring in 8 points on 3-of-4 shooting off the bench in the opening frame.
Atlanta kept their foot on the gas to open the second quarter. Asa Newell and Jalen Johnson made their presence felt on the interior with back-to-back jams, before a three from Luke Kennard extended the lead to 48-30 at the 7:51 mark of the second.
A mini-run from the Heat brought them as close as 11 points, but the Hawks quickly extinguished any talk of a first-half comeback, closing the quarter on a Jalen Johnson-led 11-5 run to take a 67-50 lead into the locker room.
The biggest difference between the two sides in the first half was the three-point shooting. Atlanta shot 11-for-28 (39.3%) from distance while Miami went just 5-for-19 (26.3%). Jalen Johnson led all scorers at the half with 15 points. Simone Fontecchio was the high man for Miami with 11 points.
Miami looked the better team to start the second half, opening the quarter on a 19-7 run to cut the lead to five at the 7:03 mark of the period. With the Heat gaining momentum, an and-one bucket from Kispert at the 5:37 mark kept Miami at arms length.
CJ McCollum continued his stellar play from the first half with a couple of buckets from the mid-range to get the lead back up to 10.
Atlanta closed the third quarter on a 19-8 run to take a commanding 98-81 advantage into the fourth quarter.
True to their nature however, Miami would not concede so easily — cutting the lead to 11 at the 8:52 mark of the fourth, resulting in an early timeout for Quin Snyder. Out of the timeout, a refocused Hawks side put things right, going on an 8-0 run (punctuated by the Mo Gueye triple below) to get the lead back up to 19 with 7:01 remaining.
From there, it was quite comfortable for Atlanta. Both sides cleared their benches with a little over a minute left to play, and the Hawks took home a comfortable 127-115 win.
Jalen Johnson finished with 29 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists — his 9th triple-double of the season. CJ McCollum poured in 26 points (6-for-9 from three-point range) — setting a new Hawks-high for the veteran guard. Nickeil Alexander-Walker chipped in with 19 points.
Atlanta is back in action on Thursday night, taking on the Utah Jazz on their home floor. They’ll be looking to to continue to build momentum as the All Star break approaches.