The Atlanta Hawks traveled to Miami for a bout with the Heat and Dwyane Wade, in what will presumably be Wade’s last game against Atlanta in his illustrious Hall of Fame career. The Hawks landed in Miami on the heels of a win Sunday afternoon over Chicago, looking to sweep the back-to-back and the season series against Miami.
Coach Lloyd Pierce ran out a starting lineup of Trae Young, Kevin Huerter, Kent Bazemore, Dewayne Dedmon and Alex Len, with John Collins (flu-like symptoms), Taurean Prince (personal) and Omari Spellman (ankle injury) remaining out for the guests. In contrast, the Heat and head coach Eric Spoelstra started Justise Winslow, Dion Waiters, Josh Richardson, Bam Adebayo and Kelly Olynyk, with Goran Dragic inactive for the hosts.
After a few sloppy moments to open play, Olynyk got the scoring started with a three-pointer shortly over a minute into play. The Hawks responded with a baseline cut by Bazemore, Dedmon assisting on the jam.
dewayne dime.
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) March 5, 2019
baze finish. pic.twitter.com/poP5dMOuqJ
Overall, the Heat got out to a 10-2 lead following a three by Winslow and alley-oop that was finished off by Adebayo, triggering an early Pierce timeout.
#PointJustise ⬆️ #BamBam! pic.twitter.com/C64FN3KngQ
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) March 5, 2019
Coming out of the timeout, Bazemore found Huerter for a triple pulling the Hawks back within five. After a Waiters turnover, Young found Huerter for a layup on a scrappy Hawks possession that included an offensive rebound to make it a 5-0 Atlanta run.
"Yeah, but it took him four overtimes." pic.twitter.com/R27daNaNdW
— FOX Sports: Hawks (@HawksOnFSSE) March 5, 2019
After a Heat basket, Young fired an around the back hockey assist to Len out of the trap, who swung to Bazemore for the wide open three pointer.
@24Bazemore pic.twitter.com/WLCYWVkkv9
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) March 5, 2019
The Heat pushed the lead back to six at 17-11, before Young got a steal, then ended up with two of his own missed shots before finally laying home the deuce. Waiters responded with a fancy take to the hole to push the margin back to six.
After the two clubs traded baskets for a moment, Dedmon hit a three-pointer to cut it back to three at 21-18, making it a 16-11 score in favor of the visitors since the opening 10-2 Miami run.
Young continues to be active, initiating the majority of the offense while he’s on the floor.
Dewayne Dedmon for pic.twitter.com/1zTT1HFk1j
— FOX Sports: Hawks (@HawksOnFSSE) March 5, 2019
Newcomer B.J. Johnson continued to impress, scoring four points in the first.
ALRIGHT BJ
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) March 5, 2019
⬆️ ⬆️ ⬆️ pic.twitter.com/lCF9WGZ7Sb
A bit of history occurred in the first, as it often does when Wade is in the building. Wade blocked a DeAndre’ Bembry shot, tying him for the most blocked shots by a guard in NBA History.
MILESTONE ALERT @DwyaneWade just tied Michael Jordan for the most blocks by a guard in @NBAHistory with 1,051! ⚡️
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) March 5, 2019
Vince Carter hit a three-pointer to bring the Hawks to within one in the closing moments of the first.
The Hawks trailed by only one point after a period of play despite being out shot 58 to 42 percent by Miami. The visitors collected seven offensive rebounds in the first, however, effectively closing the gap in shooting with hard work on the boards.
Vince Carter just moved within two made threes of sixth place on the all-time three-point field goal list.
— FOX Sports: Hawks (@HawksOnFSSE) March 5, 2019
Also: w h a t a s h o t. pic.twitter.com/nIGIxsT3a9
Carter opened the scoring in the second for the Hawks with another three, giving the Hawks their first lead of the evening.
Richardson fired back for Miami with four points before yet another Carter three, his third so far in the contest. Richardson responded with yet another bucket to tie the score at 37.
Wade blocked Johnson to break Michael Jordan’s record of 1,051 blocked shots by a guard (combined in the regular season and playoffs) a little less than three minutes into the second.
One passes another !
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) March 5, 2019
With this block @DwyaneWade claimed sole possession of 1st place on the @NBA's All-Time blocks list by a guard, passing Michael Jordan! pic.twitter.com/tU1NqCilPs
Carter also made a little history of his own in the second.
With his ninth point tonight, Vince Carter has surpassed Reggie Miller (25,279) to move into 20th place in scoring in NBA history.
— Hawks PR (@HawksPR) March 5, 2019
Vince Carter already has four threes midway through the 2nd quarter. He just passed Jamal Crawford for 6th on the all-time made threes list (2,196).
— Kevin Chouinard (@KLChouinard) March 5, 2019
A 4-0 Miami run, buckets from Richardson (again) and Wade put the Heat back up four before Jaylen Adams hit a three to get it back to one. The backup rookie point has been heating up from three-point-range of late.
The Heat stayed three to six points ahead of Atlanta for much of the second, with the Hawks simply not being able to get stops, a familiar theme. The Heat reached the 54 point mark with over five minutes left before halftime.
Young fired a bullet to Dedmon for a three-pointer to cut it back to three with around three minutes left in the second, continuing to fight back from the deficit they created for themselves in the opening moments.
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) March 5, 2019
Late in the second, Bembry bolted to the basket for this ridiculous reverse finish on Olynyk, bringing the Hawks back within four again.
Don't forget about Dre' pic.twitter.com/TG3DHOS3nV
— FOX Sports: Hawks (@HawksOnFSSE) March 5, 2019
Young hit a layup and a pair of free throws in the late moments of the second to cap an 11-3 run to tie the game at half, 61-61 at the break.
Carter and Bazemore led the way for Atlanta with 12 points a piece, while Young added ten points and four assists.
Richardson and Winslow led the way for Miami with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
The Hawks were active from three-point-range yet again tonight, getting up a staggering 27 attempts for the half (10 makes).
The visitors opened up the scoring in the second half with a Young lob to Dedmon that just looks textbook at this point. Young’s passing continues to create great looks for his teammates at an astounding rate.
Whoever drew up this play for the Hawks coming out of halftime did an excellent job. pic.twitter.com/7QnZKFe2Sn
— FOX Sports: Hawks (@HawksOnFSSE) March 5, 2019
The Heat responded with seven straight points to regain a five point lead two minutes into the third, taking control early for the second straight half.
After a momentary lull in scoring for both teams, Huerter hit a step-back three in the corner to cut it back to two.
Miami pushed it back to five before Bazemore drew two fouls on three-point-attempts in a matter of seconds, making 4 of the 6 free throws to cut the lead back to one. Johnson scored inside moments later to give the Hawks a one point lead.
A Young turnover that resulted in a fast-break layup from Waiters gave the Heat the lead back and led to a Pierce timeout almost halfway through the period.
The third took to a more sloppy style of play than the fast-paced first half, a style that Miami prefers far more than Atlanta, as they rank only 22nd in pace while the Hawks rank 1st in the association in pace of play.
The Heat inched back out to a five-point lead, but Bembry hit a three moments later, the equalizer for the Hawks in this game, to cut the margin back to two. The Hawks took 33 three-pointers as a unit in the first 32 minutes of this game, making 12.
b3mbry. pic.twitter.com/rt6MtvT0WY
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) March 5, 2019
Adams came out of the Heat timeout with yet another three for Atlanta, giving them their second lead of the contest at 78-77 with under four to play in the third.
Bembry added to his highlight reel with a thunderous block off of the glass.
Alex Poythress hit a pair of free throws on the other end to make it a three point lead and an 8-0 run for Atlanta. Wade snapped the run moments later with a smooth elbow jumper that was instantly answered with Carter’s fifth three-pointer of the contest.
All in all, it was an 11-2 run for Atlanta, but Miami responded strong with a 6-2 run to close the quarter and knot the score back up at 85 heading to the fourth.
Wade opened the scoring in the fourth, giving the lead back to Miami. Richardson hit a three on the next possession to stretch the lead to 11-2.
Huerter hit his third three of the contest to pull the Hawks back within two on the ensuing possession. Huerter slashed in the lane off a kick-out from Young moments later to cut it back to one.
LET'S PLAY BASKETBALL, PEOPLE. pic.twitter.com/AzzNZga768
— FOX Sports: Hawks (@HawksOnFSSE) March 5, 2019
"Sneaky" pic.twitter.com/aTEwDDtHYL
— FOX Sports: Hawks (@HawksOnFSSE) March 5, 2019
Dedmon stuck back and offensive rebound (11th of the game for Atlanta) to give the Hawks the lead back at 93-92.
The Heat regained a one point lead moments later (one they would never relinquish) before Wade hit a three to push it back to a four point game in favor of the home team.
Wade hit again on a signature free throw line jumper to give Miami a six-point lead with seven to play, then scored again on the next possession (giving him 10 points in the first half of the fourth quarter).
Richardson hit a three-pointer moments later to push the run to 12-2 and the lead to nine for the Heat, 104-95.
The Hawks were able to halt the run momentarily with a pair of Len free throws before Wade found Olynyk for a three to push the Miami lead back to double-digits with 4:23 to play.
Carter hit his sixth three of the contest to pull the guests back within seven with three minutes left, giving the Hawks life for a brief moment. Olynyk was able to draw a foul and hit both free throws to push the deficit back to nine.
Vince Carter has six threes tonight. pic.twitter.com/IUK7JMu0qO
— FOX Sports: Hawks (@HawksOnFSSE) March 5, 2019
Carter hit another three (No. 7 on the night) on the next possession to cut it back to six. After a stop for the Hawks, Winslow picked up a technical foul after a foul on the floor. With the Hawks in the bonus, this was the break they needed if they were going to pull off the unlikely comeback with just over two minutes to play.
Young missed the technical free throw, then hit both of the remaining foul shots to cut the margin to four.
After Rodney McGruger split a pair of free throws, Poythress rolled to the rim for an easy layup to cut it to three. A Heat turnover on the ensuing possession gave the Hawks a chance to tie, but Young got to the rim for a layup to cut it back to one.
Wade scored again inside to make it 114-111 with under a minute remaining on the next possession.
Young traveled with 40 seconds to play to give the ball back to Heat, seemingly sealing the game despite a valiant run from the Hawks late in the contest. There was a bit of life in the final seconds, when Kent Bazemore made two free throws to bring the deficit to one, but the Heat (somehow) played keep-away as the Hawks tried to foul and time expired.
In the end, the effort was especially impressive considering the short-handed nature of the Hawks roster at the moment and the fact that it was the second game of a back-to-back.
Wade scored 23 points for Miami, 14 in the fourth, providing a signature performance for Hawks fans to remember in his final matchup against the club. Richardson added 19 points for the Heat while Winslow had 18 of his own.
Carter (21 points, 7 three-pointers) and Bazemore (16 points) led a balanced scoring attack for Atlanta. Young added 14 points and eight assists but did commit eight turnovers however against a stout Miami defensive attack.
The Hawks return to State Farm Arena Wednesday for a matchup with the San Antonio Spurs.