The Miami HEAT defeated the Atlanta Hawks 105-87 Sunday night at AmericanAirlines Arena. Chris Bosh led the way for the HEAT with 18 points.
1. Bosh and Wade Seal It
Bosh, meanwhile, mixed it up with jumpers and decisive drives to the rack. Quite simply, he continued to pick his spots and kept Atlanta on its heels. In addition to his 18 points, Bosh also tallied seven rebounds and two assists.
2. Stoudemire Strong Again
For the past few games, Amar’e Stoudemire has set hard, legal screens to free up his teammates. On Sunday night, there was more of the same from the wily veteran. In particular, he and Wade connected off the pick-and-roll often at the start of the third quarter. As a result, Stoudemire notched eight points in the period. While he benefited a lot when rolling to the hoop, Wade also had a few buckets after Stoudemire created space.
On one sequence with 5:37 left in the second quarter, Wade drove inside off the Stoudemire screen. He then hit Horford with the gorgeous Euro-Step and finished the finger-roll to put Miami up 45-25.
With Hassan Whiteside out, it’s been great to see Stoudemire make an impact in the starting lineup. In all, the 33-year-old had 13 points, 12 boards and three steals on the night.
3. Miami Pushes Tempo Early
Thanks to Goran Dragic and Justise Winslow, the HEAT got out in transition quite often in the first half. In fact, two of Dragic’s three field goals through the first two quarters were one-man fast breaks. On those plays, he raced out like a speeding bullet and finished some very difficult layups.
Winslow also did damage in the open court. On one instance with 11:04 to go in the second quarter, Winslow grabbed the defensive rebound and took it coast-to-coast for the pretty finish over Mike Scott. A few plays later, the rookie swatted Tim Hardaway Jr. inside.
As a team, Miami tallied 11 fast break points in the first half. Dragic ended the game with nine points and four assists, while Winslow tallied 10 points and nine rebounds on 4-of-6 shooting. Throughout the contest, the 19-year-old also moved very well off the ball and cut to the rack with purpose for easy scores inside.
Game Note: Tyler Johnson (shoulder), Hassan Whiteside (hip) and Chris Andersen (knee) sat out.