Miami Heat defeat Atlanta Hawks 95-89 to claim their fourth win in a row: NBA Recap
LeBron James shrugged off a hurting knee to lead Miami Heat to a 95-89 victory against the Atlanta Hawks here at Philips Arena on Friday night, Miami’s four consecutive win.
James and Josh Smith had a collision near the end of the first half but last season’s MVP shook of the pain as he scored 21 points and hauled down 11 rebounds. He made a decisive jump shot seconds from the end to seal the deal and fell just one assist shy of a triple-double on the night.
“It's a little sore right now," James said about his right knee. "I knew I would get through it. It would take a lot for me not to go back out there with my teammates."
Jeff Teague hit back to back three pointers late in the fourth quarter as Hawks looked to make a comeback but Smith missed two free throws, a disappointing night for him. James on the other end closed the game smoothly for Heat, who were missing Dwyane Wade, out with a nasty cold.
Teague added 20 points for Hawks but Smith went 6 of 19 from the field as the Hawks could not overcome Heat’s late surge.
“I've got to be more efficient. I've got to be better at the free throw line," Smith said. "I apologize to all my teammates. It was just a poor effort."
With all next six games on the road for Heat, their coach Erik Spoelstra did not want to take any chances with Wade as he stayed in the hotel so that the cold by any chance may not spread to his team mates.
The first quarter was pretty even, Hawks were leading 11-4 up early before 6 straight points by James reduced it to 10-11. Miami were 21-16 at one stage before Hawks tightened the screws and the period ended all square on 25-25.
A Ray Allen three point shot levelled it up at 30 early in the second quarter before a Chris Bosh jumper tied the score at 40 later in the period. Jeff Teague’s floating jump shot followed by a Josh Smith free throw put the Hawks up 46-42 by halftime.
A Kyle Korver three pointer opened up a seven point advantage 55-48 early for Hawks before an 8-0 run by the Heat put them up 56-55. The scores was tied at 60 when DeShawn Stevenson fired a three pointer and again at 64 when Devin Harris made a jump shot for the Hawks. Heat went into the third quarter leading by a partly one point, 72-71.
Heat started the final period strongly and a 10-0 run got them to 80-73. But the Hawks rallied back and two back to back Teague three pointers tied the score at 85. Moments later, he added another 2 on free throws to tie it again at 89. Heat then went for a 6-0 run to close the game at 95-89.
Chris Bosh led the scoring with 24 points and 5 rebounds while Ray Allen added 17. Jeff Teague led the Hawks with 20 points and 11 assists and Anthony Morrow came off the bench to score 17 points.
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