MIAMI (AP) – The intense heat are back at .500, not even a few weeks away from being at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
Kendrick Nunn scored 24 points, Bam Adebayo had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and the Heat extended the NBA’s longest current winning streak to six games by defeating them Atlanta Hawks 109-99 on Sunday evening.
“That was a big game for us,” said Nunn. “Took a step in the right direction.”
Previously, Achiuwa had 14 points in 12 minutes for Miami, who took advantage of a 10-0 run towards the end of the fourth quarter to break away from a game that ended 3-0 at 95. Tyler Herro had 12 of his 14 points for Miami in fourth and Goran Dragic scored 13 for the Heat (17-17).
John Collins led all scorers with 34 points for Atlanta and got 10 rebounds. Clint Chapel finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Hawks while Bring you young 15 points, nine assists and eight rebounds added.
But Young only shot 3 for 14.
“He saw the pressure,” said Hawks trainer Lloyd Pierce. “He knows that teams will throw different defenses at us. Much of the focus is on getting the ball out of his hands. And we have ways to punish, but if you don’t take shots there is nothing we really can do. ”
Kevin Huerter scored 13 for the Hawks who were only 8 for 35 out of 3-point range.
The teams will play again in Miami on Tuesday when the Heat – who have won 10 of their last 13 – try to go over .500 for the first time in the entire season. Miami played without it on Sunday Jimmy Butler, excluded from inflammation of the right knee.
“When Jimmy was out I thought the guys were really active in a lot of different places,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.
Miami led 54-44 halfway through, much of it because of their defense against Young. He was goalless until 2:53 remained in the half, the lowest he has ever gone into a game without a point this season.
Collins was 4 to 4 in the second quarter and helped keep the Hawks within striking distance.
He remained dominant in the third. Collins had 19 in that quarter alone – the second most a player had in a quarter against Miami this season, one less than 20 Philadelphia‘s Joel Embiid had in the third quarter of the 76ersWin the heat on January 12th.
Capela added 10 in the third quarter and the Hawks briefly regained the lead before moving into round four at 78-77. Collins and Capela were 13 for 18 in the third; The rest of the Hawks were 1 to 8 and Young – just like the first quarter – was goalless.
“JC really set the tone by being aggressive,” said Capela.
TIP-INS
Hawks: Young’s goalless first quarter was his fifth of the season. The Hawks are 0-5 in those games this season and 0-13 in those games since the final of his rookie year. … Rondo regionIn the last seven games in Miami, he played for seven different teams: Boston, Dallas, Sacramento, Chicago, New Orleans, the Lakers and now Atlanta.
heat: The six straight wins are Miami’s longest regular season run of its kind since a seven-game run in the middle of the 2017/18 season. The Heat also had a seven-game winning streak in last season’s playoffs. … Celebrity chef Guy Fieri was among the 3,000 or so people. … Adebayo now has six double doubles in a row and thus the best career.
BUTLER’S KNEE
The Heat lists butlers as commonplace. Spoelstra said Butler was on the team for the shootaround on Sunday morning and that the knee “hasn’t loosened as much as he wanted it to”. Spoelstra added that he felt the problem was minor.
FLORIDA MEN
That game marked the first of four straight games the Hawks will play in Florida – they’re back in Miami on Tuesday, Orlando on Wednesday, and against Toronto in Tampa to begin the second half on March 11th California, Nov. through March 26, and so far this season has only had a stretch of four games in Georgia.
