The Miami Heat took down the Atlanta Hawks 95 to 89 without Dwyane Wade, who is out with a cold on this Friday Night. LeBron James put in another near triple double performance, with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists, including a clutch basket to close the game. Chris Bosh stepped up in an effort to fill Wade's void, with a game high 24 points and 5 rebounds.
The Hawks kept this game close, fighting back every lead change and never allowing Miami to take control. Jeff Teague led Atlanta with 20 points from 7 of 8 shooting, while dishing 11 assists. The point guard knocked down back to back threes in the fourth as part of the 14 to 3 Hawks run that erased the 9 point deficit the Heat established early in the quarter.
Down by 2 points with a minute remaining, the struggles of Josh Smith (13 points, 6 of 19 shooting, and 8 rebounds) continued, missing two crucial free throws to tie the game. After a costly Hawk's misplay in a second attempt to even the score, the Heat picked up the opportunity and placed the ball in to the hands of the MVP. In the next 30 seconds, LeBron James would make his move at the left side of the key, shredding DeShawn Stevenson, he hits the 15 footer to give his team a four point lead to seal the victory.
Offensive End:
Miami killed Atlanta in the paint, outscoring them 40 to 26. You can put the blame on Al Horford (10 points, and 7 rebounds) for being to passive, against Chris Bosh, a decent defender, he should put up more than 9 shots. Josh Smith had a tough night inside, thanks to Heat's help defense, they forced him to basically pass the ball out.
The Bench of both teams contributed, Ray Allen and Anthony Morrow put in 17 points for their respective teams.
Defensive End:
Both teams played great defense, as I mentioned earlier, the Heat did play the interior well. They held their opponent's field goal percentage to 42 and forced them to take a lot of outside shots.
The Hawks play a pretty mean man defense, they rotate well, but the Heat stars are a bit overwhelming for them.
The Moments:
- If you caught this game on NBA League Pass, Rapper T.I. did the color commentary for the first half of this game, which is pretty cool. I missed it, but I bet it lacked enunciation.
- Josh Smith air balled a free throw.
- In the post game interview, Chris Bosh said that he was as quick as a cat. Yea, he is a weird dude.
- 2 Chainz was at the game and greeted LeBron right after it, not important.
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