Miami Heat Lose The Game Twice To The Atlanta Hawks

The Miami Heat would have a tough test on Friday night. Facing off against an Atlanta Hawks team they had previously beaten twice in the last nine days, they were once again traveling to Atlanta to face off against a team looking for a reason to bounce back.

Recently making a shakeup to their roster, sending Cam Reddish and Solomon Hill to the New York Knicks for what essentially amounted to Kevin Knox and a draft pick, the Atlanta Hawks are looking to try and hit their stride as the second portion of the season gets underway.

The Miami Heat went into this game knowing that they would again be without Kyle Lowry, who had also missed the previous two games for “personal reasons”, while they would also, again, be without Tyler Herro due to health and safety protocols.

You could absolutely tell that the Hawks were the team that had been beaten twice by the Miami Heat recently, as they got right out to a hot start shooting the ball. It didn’t help a ton that the heat defenders acted as though they were allergic to contesting shots.

That would foreshadow much of the remainder of the game.

Though the Miami Heat were able to end the first, only down one, they proceeded to be outscored, 57-44, over the next two periods.

The fourth period is where they decided to play ball again though. On the back of a series of huge Duncan Robinson three-point shots, the Miami Heat were able to pull the game back close to give themselves a chance.

With an opportunity to go up by one in the last 22 seconds of the contest, after pulling all the way back from what was a 16 point lead or so, and after Coach Spoelstra drew up a brilliant play in the closing seconds of the game, the Miami Heat just couldn’t execute.

The play was one that saw Jimmy Butler running off of a back screen towards the rim, while Bam Adebayo would be the setup man. Timing his run perfectly, Butler would be able to free himself up at the rim, alone, but miss the easy look.

See for yourself.

While he should have still converted the attempt, being the pro and excellent finisher that he is, he somehow mistimed his jump or the gather leading up to the jump, it appeared.

That looked as though it led to him having a poor angle on the glass. Again, he still should convert on that attempt, so it stands as a missed opportunity for the Miami Heat.

There was still an opportunity to try and win the game though. After fouling Trae Young on the following possession, he would miss one of the free throws.

This would give Coach Spoelstra, a brilliant maestro after the time out, another chance to draw up a play. You can’t be sure what Spo drew up, but you know it isn’t what they ran or at least, that’s what you hope.

The final possession saw a tough contested Jimmy Butler three-pointer to try and put the Heat up one. Here it is.

For starters, you would much rather have him going to the basket in some sort of fashion, if he’s the one taking the shot there. But if you must take the triple, allow Duncan Robinson to take it, the guy who had already sunk a couple of huge shots to bring you back.

That’s how the Miami Heat lost this game twice. They allowed themselves to get down too big in the first place by not playing tighter defense on an Atlanta Hawks team that was scorching from the field and three-point.

Even in the end though and when they were close enough to win it, they couldn’t execute. They gave up two great opportunities to win a game they could have.

That doesn’t mean they should have won it though, as they shouldn’t have, because they didn’t deserve to. You say that based on all of the aforementioned evidence and reasoning, they weren’t ready to win it on Friday.

You hate how this one finished but there are still a few positives to take away from it.

They showed resilience to come back and of mention, in such a short amount of time. It’s also a teachable moment, execution-wise.

Lastly and one thing for certain, Jimmy Butler will be extremely motivated as they welcome the Lakers into their building on Sunday. A win over LeBron James and/or the Los Angeles Lakers is always a way to get over a tough defeat.