Miami led 73-54 with 5:37 left in the third quarter and 82-69 in the opening minute of the fourth, but Atlanta stormed back and snapped a 94-94 tie on a 3-pointer by Dion Glover with 1:36 left.
After Rod Strickland scored to make it 97-96, the Heat stopped the Hawks on their ensuing possession, but Alonzo Mourning lost the ball with 35 seconds left. Terry hit a floater in the lane with 12 seconds remaining to give Atlanta a 99-96 lead.
 Dion Glover gives Jason Terry a victory hug on Thursday. Garrett W. Ellwood NBAE/Getty Images |
"Down 20, we've been on the other end of that, so it feels kind of good," Terry said. "Coach told us before the game to disregard their record, they're still a tough ballclub. When we were down 20, we had nothing to lose."
Atlanta's Shareef Abdur-Rahim shot just 6-of-19 but finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds for his third straight double-double and 16th this season. Glover added 16 points for the Hawks, who made 30-of-34 free throws.
"We gotta figure out a way to start out these games better," Abdur-Rahim said. "The turnaround was big. We kept fighting, we got some big stops."
"It's definitely a confidence-builder," Glover added. "You're down 20 points at home against a solid Miami team and they're better than their record shows. (And) you fought back and you scratch back."
Eddie Jones scored 24 points to lead six Miami players in double figures. Brian Grant chipped in 16 and 11 rebounds for the Heat, who made just 20-of-31 free throws en route to their sixth loss in seven games.
"When you don't think it can get any worse, it gets worse," Miami coach Pat Riley said. "It's just ridiculous."
Atlanta switched to a zone defense in the fourth quarter, a move that disrupted the Heat's inside game.
"We didn't get as many good looks scoring-wise, but we didn't get any defense," Grant said. "They just dissected us in the second half. It was as if we didn't know what we were doing the last six to eight minutes."
"It's frustrating," Jones added. "The way we started out, the way we came out in the third quarter ... down the stretch, we were giving them whatever they wanted."
Atlanta won despite shooting just 43 percent (31-of-72) and allowing Miami to connect at 46 percent (36-of-77). The Hawks shot under 50 percent for the 16th game in a row.
Despite Terry's 24 first-half points, Miami shot 50 percent (20-of-40), scored a season-high 58 points and built a 10-point lead. Jones had 16 points through 24 minutes and Grant and Jimmy Jackson added 12 apiece.
Miami set a season high with 35 first-quarter points to take a 19-point lead into the second period.
"Obviously, we were very pleased with the outcome," Hawks coach Lon Kruger said. "Based on the first three quarters, it was pretty unexpected."