Hawks Keep Miami From Heating Up Win 81-71

Posted by Jeff Sack under NBA Game Recap, NBA PLAYOFFS

Momentum is kind of like quicksilver; it can easily slip from your grasp at any time. The Miami Heat and the Atlanta Hawk have both seen first hand just how fickle momentum can be in their first round NBA Playoff series. The Hawks took the first contest and then the Heat came back with some strong performances to take games two and three.

Before the Monday night game it appeared that the Heat who were playing at home would be the hot team; it turned out they were ice cold the whole night. Miami shot a pitiful 37.7% (23-61) from the floor for the contest and the Hawks easily won 81-71 tying the series at 2-2.

For what ever the reason the Heat never showed any fluidity offensively during the game as they scored less than 20 points in three of the four quarters. Atlanta took the lead at the end of the first quarter on top 24-17. Miami had their only decent quarter of the night in the second as they were able to close the gap and get back in the game trailing at the half 46-42.

However the Heat when they came back out on the floor in the third looked worse than they did in the opening 12 minutes of play. Atlanta was able to capitalize on Miami’s misfortune and had a 63-55 advantage at the end of the period. The Heat were never able to get any closer than 7 points down at any time in the fourth quarter.

Mike Bibby led the way for Atlanta with 15 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals while Joe Johnson had 14 points, 5 assists, 1 rebound and 1 steal. Josh Smith scored 13 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 rebounds and 1 steal while Zaza Pachulia came off the bench and recorded a double-double putting up 12 points, 18 boards, 2 steals and 1 assist. Flip Murray had another good game off of the pine as he knocked down 11 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists while Maurice Evans added 10 points, 2 rebounds and 1 steal.

Dwyane Wade led all players as he scored 22 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds and 1 block. Jermaine O’Neal had 20 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal while James Jones added 19 points, 1 rebound and 1 steal. The series now knotted up at 2-2 will resume Wednesday night in Atlanta.

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