The Hawks lost to the Heat for the second time in three days, this time falling 124-118 on Friday night in Miami.
It was also the fourth loss in a row for the Hawks (17-24) and eighth in the last 10 games.
Next up, the Hawks host the Knicks on Saturday.
Below are some takeaways from the loss:
1. Trae Young had 24 points for the Hawks, who rallied from 17 down early and led by 10 in the second half before letting it get away. De’Andre Hunter scored 20 points, Danilo Gallinari added 18, John Collins 16 and Kevin Huerter 15.
The Hawks didn’t have a field goal in the final 3:13, shooting just 30% in the fourth quarter.
They scored 70 points in the first half but gave up 64.
“We just made some mistakes going down the stretch,” Hawks coach Nate McMillan said. “We didn’t execute offensively, had a couple bad fouls, gave up a couple loose balls — those 50-50 balls, we’ve got get those — and just didn’t execute. We just didn’t execute in that fourth quarter and it cost us tonight.”
2. Miami’s Tyler Herro made a pair of free throws with 46 seconds left to give the Heat their first lead of the second half — and when it was over, the Heat celebrated with fans sitting courtside such as Drake and golf star Brooks Koepka.
Miami led 30-13 early, then gave up 57 points in the final 16 minutes of the first half. The Hawks scored 40 in the second quarter alone, becoming the first team to score that many in a quarter against the Heat this season.
Gallinari made a 3-pointer late in the half for a 65-62 lead, and the Hawks kept the lead until the final minute of the game.
Herro made a 3-pointer to get Miami within 112-111, Kyle Lowry made a 3 on the next Heat possession and the game was tied for the first time in the second half with 3:34 remaining.
Herro made a 3-pointer with 8.5 seconds left.
Former Hawks player Dewayne Dedmon made a pair of free throws after getting fouled while jostling for a rebound with 1.9 seconds remaining and finished with 12 points and eight rebounds for Miami.
4. Herro scored 24 points and Jimmy Butler added 23 for Miami. Omer Yurtseven finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds to help the Heat move within a game of Chicago for first place in the Eastern Conference.
The Heat have won seven in a row at home.
5. The Hawks traded Cam Reddish to the Knicks Thursday and the teams meet Saturday at State Farm Arena. But New York says Reddish won’t play due to an ankle injury.
Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said Reddish is out for “a while,” the New York Daily News reported.
Reddish has been dealing with an ankle sprain for much of this season and aggravated it during a Jan. 9 game against the Clippers, leaving after just three minutes of action. The Daily News said Thibodeau wouldn’t define “a while,” but said Reddish had joined the team in New York and was taking a physical.
Stat of the game: The Heat (15-for-16) and the Hawks (17-for-17) combined to shoot 32-for-33 from the foul line in the first half. That was the best combined shooting from the line in a first half, with that many made shots, in an NBA game since 2006. Indiana and Detroit also went 32 for 33 in the first 24 minutes of a game on Dec. 13, 2006.
Star of the game: Jimmy Butler returned from a three-game absence with a sprained ankle and scored 23 and had 10 assists for Miami. The Heat was plus-19 when he was on the court.
Quotable: “We played a good-enough game to win this game. Now we have to build off of this. - Hawks coach Nate McMillan.
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