It was bittersweet night as the Miami Heat raised up the jersey of Udonis Haslem to the rafters, but have lost their second straight game, falling to the Atlanta Hawks, 109-108. The game would come down to the final two minutes and ultimately the last possession where Miami had two seconds to win the game at the buzzer.
Besides it being their second straight loss, it is also the second straight time falling to a team with a losing record. Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro both led with 25 points as Bam Adebayo had 21 points and nine rebounds. On the other side, Dejounte Murray propelled the Hawks to victory with his 22 points and the three-point shot that put them up one point late in the game.
Here's a look at both halves and takeaways from the Heat's loss to the Hawks Friday night:
Starting slow, finishing strong in the first half
The shooting struggles continued for the Heat as they shot 38.5 percent from the field, but a poor 20 percent from three-point range as they only made two of their 10 attempts. On the other hand, the Hawks shot 46.4 from the field and 45.5 from deep led by Murray who had nine points of the first period.
While it wasn't as bad as their shooting performance against the Toronto Raptors where virtually nothing was going in, you still can't start slow against Atlanta even if they're without Young. They needed to get more into rhythm in the second quarter to keep up with the Hawks pace.
They did just that in the next period as they shot an excellent 66.7 percent from deep, making six of nine attempts. Robinson was crucial in this quarter as he had 11 points where three of his four makes were from his sweet spot of beyond the three-point arch. Still, the Hawks wouldn't back down too much as they still had a one-point lead heading into halftime.
A thrilling, unfortunate second half
The start of the second half saw the Heat arguably have their most complimentary quarter of basketball as besides building up a nine-point lead on offense, they held the Hawks to their lowest scoring quarter with 24 points. Herro led the way with 10 points off of four of seven shooting and Adebayo also contributed with eight.
Still, Atlanta would claw back into the game towards the last few minutes of the third where entering the final period, Miami would only have a two-point lead. Once again, the Heat enter in another clutch-time situation in the fourth quarter. Where have you heard that before?
This fourth quarter was an absolute slugfest which is akin to the situations that the Heat prosper in, but this was in comparison to two boxers connecting on haymakers one punch after the other. With the way the game was progressing, it was going to come down to the team that could outlast the other.
For the last month, the Heat have missed a player like Butler that can create some momentum in clutch situations. They had that Friday as he made five straight points to give the team a one-point lead with under two minutes to play. With the crowd noise getting louder and louder, it only fed the energy of the team as it propelled Adebayo and especially Herro to make key buckets after.
However, after Herro missed a shot with moments remaining, Murray hit a confident three-point shot to take a one-point lead over Miami with two seconds left. Ironic as Murray has been rumored to be a trade candidate for the Heat.
In the Heat's final possession, Butler got the in-bound pass, gave the ball to Caleb Martin, but he couldn't shoot it in time. A messy possession that results in the Heat taking the brutal loss. When looking at the final box score, the team will look at the 16 turnovers and have nightmares about it when they go to sleep.
A look ahead at the upcoming competition
After that treacherous game against the Raptors on Wednesday, Friday marked a possible get-right game as they were facing a Hawks team that they beat two times before, plus Young was missing this game. However, they let another one fall inside the Kaseya Center.
It was just a one-game stint in Miami, but now they head on the road on a quick trip a bit up North as they face the Orlando Magic this Sunday. However, they have the ability to bounce back and get a home win next Wednesday where they will face another losing team int the Memphis Grizzlies.
Though the competition might seem easy, the Heat still are going through the motions as they are trying to get reacclimatized to a healthy lineup having their main three stars. As they are just over the halfway point of the season, there isn't too much time remaining as they are 24-18.
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