The final stretch of the NBA regular season is underway. A week after All-Star weekend, with a trade deadline so fresh the game introduction graphics included two former members of the home team in Tiago Splitter and Mike Scott, the Miami Heat defeated the Atlanta Hawks, 108-90.
“It’s about putting pressure on them defensively,” Miami Heat guard Dion Waiters, who finished with 14 points and 10 assists, said after the game. “I just read the defense: I know they like to collapse, so I just picked up on that.”
The newest member of the Hawks, Ersan Ilyasova, checked in with 1:01 remaining in the first quarter. His first attempt was an air-balled three-pointer midway through the second quarter and the six-foot-10 forward finished the night with nine points, which he scored in the second half. The team’s lone All-Star Paul Millsap led the Hawks with 19 points in the first half and Kent Bazemore gave the fans a little hope by banking in a deep three at the second quarter buzzer to go into halftime trailing 63-49.
At halftime, all fans were given a Black History Month lesson on the Black Fives, which were the all-Black basketball teams that formed a few years after the creation of professional basketball. Five actors recreated a Black Five squad on the court at Phillips Arena, wearing vintage jerseys, short shorts and even the leather knee pads the players wore because of the court conditions they played on. The halftime presentation explained that Black Fives were a result of other professional leagues not being integrated yet and that the Harlem Rens won the first Professional World Basketball Championship in a tournament that included only one other all-Black team in the Harlem Globetrotters. Maggie Wattley, the first Black Atlanta Hawks cheerleader, was also honored in the third quarter after a timeout performance from the A-Town Dancers.
On the court in the second half, the Heat dominated the Hawks for the second consecutive meeting between the two teams.
“Miami continues to play great basketball,” Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer said after the loss. “They [Miami] finish enough. They kick out enough. It’s unfortunate we faced a team like that tonight.”
This is currently the longest 100 point plus streak for the Heat in franchise history, which currently stands at 15.
“I have no idea,” Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said on how the team’s streak began. “We’re not focused on trying to score.”
The Miami Heat’s leading scorer for the night, guard Tyler Johnson, was also shocked by the statistic.
“I didn’t know that,” Johnson, who finished with 23 points, said. “I guess it’s just a testament to how we’ve been sharing the ball lately.”
Two of the league’s premier centers Hassan Whiteside and Dwight Howard battled down low on the block.
“Yeah, I’ve been looking up to Dwight since I was in high school,” Whiteside said. “He leads in the league in offensive rebounds, so tonight I had to do my best job of containing him.”
Whiteside’s “best job” ended up out rebounding Howard 10 to seven.
Both teams are heading on the road for back-to-backs: the Hawks are facing the Magic, while the Heat return to Miami to face the Pacers. -rashad milligan
