Heat-Hawks Preview

By NOEY KUPCHAN
Posted Nov 09 2012 12:45AM

While the Miami Heat are known for their offensive prowess, they're proving mighty stingy on the defensive end, too.

The Atlanta Hawks know all too well how hard it can be to generate offense against the defending NBA champions.

Seeking a fourth consecutive win overall, the Heat try for a sixth straight road victory over the Hawks on Friday night.

The Heat (4-1) are coming off Wednesday's 103-73 rout of Brooklyn, using a stifling defensive display to improve to 4-0 at home for the first time in franchise history. Miami, which two nights earlier held Phoenix to 39.8 percent shooting in a 124-99 win, limited the Nets to 37.5 percent from the field.

"It was good to see another game, sub-40 percent," coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Our guys were, for the most part, committed to try to make an impact on that side of the floor."

Dwyane Wade had 22 points, while LeBron James scored 20 to go along with 12 rebounds and eight assists.

"When we get stops, we're going to break open a lot of games because we can score," James said. "So that's the No. 1 key."

Miami has been especially good at containing teams from outside during its three-game run, limiting foes to 15 of 63 (23.8 percent) from 3-point range.

"We know there's going to be moments when you're not going to be able to shoot the ball as well as you want to," Wade said. "It averages out for this team. ... That's why you have to be a good defensive team to be successful in this league."

While the Heat have taken care of business at home, they were handed an ugly loss last Friday in their only road contest this season, 104-84 at New York.

Miami, though, hasn't had much trouble in its last few visits to Philips Arena, where it's won five in a row by an average of 14.8 points. The Heat have also taken nine of 11 from the Hawks (2-1) overall, holding them to 88.4 points per contest.

James has averaged 32.2 points on 54.2 percent shooting in his last nine games versus Atlanta. Although Wade, in contrast, hasn't posted great numbers against the Hawks of late, coach Larry Drew knows his team is likely to have its hands full.

"They're good, they're two of the top players in our league," Drew said. "Both guys are really good in the open court, both guys are really good creators and both guys are willing passers. They can get to the rim, they can make jump shots - they make life for the opposition a little tough.

"We're gonna just have to do a good job of collectively - as a team - defending both guys."

Atlanta has won two in a row after dropping its season opener. The Hawks won 104-95 at Oklahoma City on Sunday, then pulled out an 89-86 home victory over Indiana three nights later.

Atlanta trailed by 14 in the fourth quarter before putting together an 18-0 run, sparked by eight straight points from Kyle Korver. The 3-point specialist missed six of seven from beyond the arc before making his final two attempts.

"We had the last run. It was a good gut-check for our team," said Korver, who shot 10-of-18 from 3-point range in four games against Miami last season while with Chicago. "It's good when you know your coach and teammates have your back and keep passing you the ball."

After sitting out Sunday with a sprained right ankle, Josh Smith had 11 points, seven assists and five boards against the Pacers. He's averaging 14.0 points on 42.6 percent shooting during Atlanta's home losing streak against Miami.

James hits clinching shot, Heat beat Hawks 95-89

By PAUL NEWBERRY
Posted Nov 09 2012 11:17PM

ATLANTA (AP) LeBron James' right knee was hurting. With Dwyane Wade back at the hotel, there was no way the MVP was coming out.

James scored 21 points, including the clinching jumper with 13.6 seconds remaining, and Miami knocked off the Atlanta Hawks 95-89 Friday night for the Heat's fourth straight win.

In the final minute of the first half, James banged knees with Atlanta's Josh Smith. But the Heat star shook off the pain, knowing Miami was already short-handed with Wade sitting out because of a nasty cold.

"It's a little sore right now," James said. "I knew I would get through it. It would take a lot for me not to go back out there with my teammates."

He just missed a triple-double, grabbing 11 rebounds and handing out nine assists.

Jeff Teague hit consecutive 3-pointers as the Hawks rallied from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter. But Smith, on an awful night, missed two free throws with just over a minute remaining, and James finished off Atlanta after the teams traded turnovers.

Everyone in the building knew James would shoot at the end. It didn't matter. He muscled away from DeShawn Stevenson, swished a 15-footer and hopped along the sideline in front of the Atlanta crowd.

"I had a pretty good look," James said. "It's just about repetition. It's things that you practice every day."

Chris Bosh led Miami with 24 points, knocking down all 10 of his free throw attempts.

Teague scored 20 points, but the Hawks couldn't overcome a dismal performance by Smith, who also had to cope with a sore knee and all the energy he expended at the defensive end, spending much of his time guarding James.

Smith went 6 of 19 from the field and connected just one time on five attempts from the foul line. Even the one he made was ugly, a banked-in shot late in the first half after he put up an airball on his first attempt.

"I've got to be more efficient. I've got to be better at the free throw line," he said. "I apologize to all my teammates. It was just a poor effort."

Smith knows more is expected of him after the Hawks dealt perennial All-Star Joe Johnson to Brooklyn during the offseason. He refused to blame his knee or the burden of guarding James for his showing.

"Yeah, it's tough giving energy at both ends of the court, but that's not an excuse," Smith said. "I'm supposed to be a leader on this basketball team. From a team standpoint, I like what he did. We fought back. We're going to be good. We're going to get better."

Smith was fouled going for an offensive rebound with 1:05 remaining, sending him to the line with Miami clinging to a 91-89 lead. Both shots clanked off the rim, allowing Miami to escape with another win at less than full strength.

"We kept fighting," Hawks coach Larry Drew said. "But this game is about making plays down the stretch, and we didn't come up with enough plays down the stretch. They did."

With the Heat beginning a six-game road trip, coach Erik Spoelstra didn't want to take a chance on Wade's condition worsening or spreading to his teammates.

So the All-Star guard stayed at the hotel. His teammates managed just fine without him.

Mike Miller, who started in place of Wade, scored only four points. But Ray Allen, continuing to fit right in with his new team after leaving Boston, chipped in with 17 off the bench, going 3 of 5 beyond the 3-point arc.

"You have to fight for wins on the road. They never come easy," Spoelstra said. As for Allen, "He's done that over the course of a 17-year career. That was one of the reasons we went after him."

Allen knew he might have to provide more offense, but no major changes were needed to make up for Wade's absence.

"We didn't have to reconfigure who we were going to play," Allen said. "We just had to make sure everybody remained focused."

Through the first three quarters, the game was tight - 25-25 at the end of the first, Atlanta leading 46-42 at the break, the Heat bouncing back for a 72-71 advantage heading to the final period.

Then, it looked as though Miami might pull away. The Heat clamped down on Atlanta defensively, sparking a 10-2 run that provided the biggest lead of the game for either team.

But Teague brought the Hawks back, the second of back-to-back 3s tying the game at 85 with 4:04 remaining. Atlanta actually pulled ahead 87-85 on Al Horford's lay-in, but that was the last hurrah for the home team.

Allen was never concerned.

Not as long as James was on the court, sore knee and all.

"Just stay on your man," Allen said, "and LeBron's going to ice it."

Notes: Rap star T.I. sat in with the Hawks' television broadcast team during the first half. He was tailed around the arena by a camera crew from his VHI reality show. ... Teague also had 11 assists. ... Anthony Morrow gave the Hawks a spark off the bench with 17 points. ... Miami dominated in the lane, outscoring the Hawks 40-26.

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Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963

Notebook: Heat 95. Hawks 89

Jon Cooper, for NBA.com
Posted Sat Nov 10, 2012 12:45 AM - Updated Sat Nov 10, 2012 1:39 AM

THE FACTS: LeBron James has figuratively come off the deck lots of times in his career.

On Friday night he literally did so then keyed a gutsy effort by the Miami Heat in a 95-89 victory over the Atlanta Hawks Friday night at Philips Arena.

James came up one assist short of a triple-double, scoring 21 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and handing out nine assists for the victorious Heat, who raised their record to 5-1 and got their six-game road trip off to a good start, despite playing without Dwyane Wade, who was sick and wasn't even at the arena.

He may have done his grittiest work in the second half, as he shook off the effects of a knee-to-knee collision with Atlanta's Josh Smith late in the second quarter. With the score tied at 89, James made a smart pass to teammate Ray Allen for the go-ahead field goal with 1:22 left, then, with 13.6 seconds remaining, made his only basket of the fourth quarter, a 20-foot jumper over Hawks defender DeShawn Stevenson, that iced the game.

James, shot 10-for-17 for the game, and while he only took seven shots in the second half (he made four of them), he handed out six assists, against only one turnover.

Miami's supporting cast also showed up, as Chris Bosh put in a game-high 24 points and made a key block on an Al Horford alley-oop pass, while, off the bench, Allen added 17, on 6-for-12 shooting, 3-for-5 from three and Udonis Haslem added 10 rebounds.

Point guard Jeff Teague had a 20-point, 11-assist double-double for Atlanta, which had its record evened at 2-2. Anthony Morrow also had a superb shooting game for the Hawks scoring a season-high 17.

The game was close throughout, as there were 16 ties and 14 lead changes.

QUOTABLE: "I was banged up at the end of the first half, but it was going to take a lot for me not to go out there and be with my teammates." -- James.

THE STAT: Points in the Paint: Miami 40, Atlanta 26: Heading into the game, Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra was concerned about Atlanta's tendency to dominate inside. But Friday night it was the Heat that controlled the paint. Miami had a 40-26 edge in points in the paint and 24-12 edge in the second half, holding Atlanta below 50 percent in shots in the lane (6-for-14).

TURNING POINT: With just under 3:00 remaining in the game, the Hawks were on a 12-3 run that turned an 82-75 deficit into an 87-85 lead. But on the Hawks' possession following a Ray Allen miss, forward Kyle Korver attempted to grab a rebound of his own missed shot. As Korver battled for the ball with Heat guard Mario Chalmers, and after apparent contact with Chalmers, he was ruled to have lost the ball out of bounds. Miami got possession and closed the game on a 10-2 run.

QUOTABLE II: "We're a resilient team. We're going to keep fighting, playing hard and playing together. We did that, and we had opportunities in the fourth and that's all you can ask for." -- Teague.

HOT: Teague. Atlanta's point guard had a near-perfect night, shooting 7-for-8, inducing 2-for-2 from three and 4-for-4 from the foul line. Teague continued what has been a trend this season, as he is now shooting 60.0 percent for the season both from the floor (27-for-45) and from three (3-for-5) and he is perfect from the foul line (8-for-8). Honorable mention goes to Atlanta's Morrow, who came in with 2:46 left in the first quarter and over the next 5:07 went 4-for-4, hitting a pair of threes, a jumper and a lay-up.

NOT: While Hawks' guard Lou Williams had a tough night, going 0-for-6 and teammate Stevenson struggled (1-for-7, 1-for-5 from three, although he did have to guard LeBron), this is on the team. The entire Atlanta Hawks team, sans Teague, is nominated for its fourth-quarter drought that saw them score 18 points. Take away Teague's 2-for-3 shooting and 2-for-2 from three, the Hawks shot just 31 percent (5-for-16), and were 0-for-4 from three.

GOOD MOVE: Spoelstra inserted Rashard Lewis into the game at the three in place of Shane Battier with 3:02 remaining in the third quarter and Miami trailing by a point with two free throws remaining for Atlanta's Morrow. Morrow hit the two free throws, putting the Hawks up three, and the lead that would reach five but then Lewis took over. The 6-10 forward exploited his five-inch height advantage over Morrow, hitting a three to ignite a quarter-ending 8-2 run that cut Miami's deficit to one point, 72-71 after three. Lewis hit seven points in the run. Miami would start the fourth on a 10-2 run over the quarter's first four minutes, jumping out to its biggest lead of the game, 82-73.

BAD MOVE: Josh Smith was frustrated with the relentless defense of Miami's Battier in the first quarter, but continued to hoist up shots. He took eight in the 12 minutes, making only two of them and went scoreless over the final 10:24 of the quarter. During one near four-minute stretch, he missed four straight shots and had a turnover.

NOTABLE: Atlanta saluted veterans during a stoppage of play, requesting that they stand, while the crowd gave them a prolonged ovation...Smith paid tribute by wearing red, white and blue stars-and-stripes headband...A major scare for both teams came with 36.4 seconds left in the half when LeBron and Smith collided in the lane. James stayed on the floor but flexed his right knee repeatedly. Smith went straight to the locker room. Both started the second half and finished the game...James grabbed his 5,000th career rebound, pulling down a Smith miss with 6:40 left in the fourth quarter...Horford shot 5-for-9 for the game and has shot over 50 percent in all four of Atlanta's games this season...Atlanta's reserves scored 32 points, playing Miami's to a draw, despite Allen's 17 points in 24 minutes. They have not been outscored all season...Atlanta's Stevenson has not turned the ball over in 104 minutes of play...Miami won for the first time this season when shooting below 50 percent (48.7), below 40 percent from three (31.8) and making fewer than10 three-point field goals (7)...Among those in the crowd were Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones, T.I., who was guest analyst on SportSouth, and Young Jeezy.

UP NEXT: For the Heat, Sunday @ Memphis, Monday @ Houston, Wednesday @ Los Angeles Clippers. For the Hawks, Sunday @ Los Angeles Clippers, Monday @ Portland, Wednesday @ Golden State.

• Heat: Pittman, Wade
• Hawks: Petro

• Heat: --
• Hawks: Pachulia

• Lead Changes: 14
• Times Tied: 16

• Arena: Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA
• Officials: #17 Joe Crawford, #45 Brian Forte, #77 Karl Lane
• Attendance: 16785
• Duration: 2:10