Atlanta Hawks: 3 Takeaways from a Thrilling Road Victory in Miami

(Almost) Folding in the Fourth

Entering the fourth with a nice double-digit lead is always a nice feeling, and one the Hawks have rarely experienced of late. Tonight they were up on the Heat by 14 entering the final period, and after a couple buckets for each team, the Hawks went cold.

The Heat took advantage of that, going on a 14-0 run, and found themselves leading for the first time since the early second quarter.

During the run, the defense was fine, but the Heat were making seemingly every tough shot. The real problem was the offense, continually turning it over with bad shots and aimless iso sets for DeAndre’ Bembry.

The Heat had all the momentum in the world, and the arena (decked out in beautiful Vice Night colors) was absolutely jumping. Despite this, Atlanta quickly recaptured the lead with a Bazemore pull-up they never gave up. Although they didn’t make it easy on themselves.

With just 1:30 left, John Collins extended the lead to 6, and after Dwayne Wade missed on the other end, it looked as if the Hawks were in “victory formation”, simply running the clock out.

Trae Young missed an end-of-the-shot clock attempt, and the Heat quickly turned that into a Kelly Olynyk three. Then, they added 2 more after a Bembry miss.

Taurean Prince went to the line with the potential to make it a three-point deficit for the Heat who had no timeouts, but he missed the first foul shot.

The Atlanta Hawks then gave Dwyane Wade and Josh Richardson both open looks for three, and Richardson had time to set his feet before his attempt, which, thankfully for the Hawks, hit the rim twice, then fell into the hands of Collins, ultimately sealing the win.

A veteran team would have handled the fourth quarter better, but that’s some of what you get when you roster a team as young as the Hawks.