Atlanta Hawks pull away late to stun the Miami Heat 100-92: NBA Recap
Miami Heat maybe the strongest contenders for the championship title, but on Monday night, they were made to forget that by Atlanta Hawks. In a come from behind performance, the Hawks beat the Heat in their own game and after eliminating
the deficit, initiated an onslaught down the stretch to grab their 4th win of the season and to end the five game winning streak of Heat.
Miami were well placed by the end of the third frame, ahead by 4 points 71-67, however they were in for a surprise in the deciding quarter. Hawks strengthened their defense to freeze Miami on the offense and rattled off a 15-3
fierce run, capped by Jannero Pargo’s 3 to change the complexion of the game completely.
Tracy McGrady and Joe Johnson then took the charge and ensured Hawks stay ahead until the end to complete a well deserving win.
Rock solid defence displayed by Hawks got the Heat players frustrated and that played an important part in the Heat’s loss, as Heat’s coach Erik Spoelstra exclaimed.
"We need to work through it. Look, we're going to see enough of it that we will have our breakthrough. We hope to have it sooner than later. ... But you can see, our minds were heavy from that point on and our minds were occupied
rather than playing free."
Joe and McGrady both were outstanding and used the long range to score majority of their points.
Joe finished with 21 points on 3 for 5 from the long range and 5 boards while McGrady registered 16 points on an accurate 3 for 3 from outside the arc. Al Horford failed to find baskets in the crunch time, but made a valuable contribution
by pounding 16 points and forcing 9 rebounds.
LeBron James paced the Heat with a game high 28 points, 7 boards and 6 assists. Chris Bosh had 19 while Dwyane Wade completed another double-double by scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
There was nothing much to differentiate between both teams in terms of shooting, except the long range, in which Hawks outclassed Heat 56.2%-38.5. Heat committed 16 turnovers in contrast to 10 by Hawks, which at the end of the
night hurt them big time.
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