Hawks shake off start, roll past Heat

MIAMI(AP) The Miami Heat got off to their
best start of the season, an 11-0 blitz that had Atlanta guard Mike
Bibby slamming the ball down in disgust.From there, nearly everything went the Hawks' way.Joe
Johnson scored 21 points, Bibby and Josh Smith each added 15, and
Atlanta shook off that woeful beginning to beat Miami with ease Friday
night, 87-73."That's the best I've seen them play defensively,''
Hawks coach Mike Woodson said after his team allowed its fewest points
in a game this season. "It was a total team effort across the board.''Maurice
Evans scored 12 points and Al Horford finished with 10 rebounds for the
Hawks, who scored the final 14 points of the third quarter, blowing
open the game on the way to snapping a three-game losing streak.Dwyane
Wade had 21 points and eight rebounds for Miami, which lost for the
first time in five games. The Heat missed nine straight shots during
one second-half lull, plus were outscored 23-4 in fast-break points and
were a mere 4-for-10 from the foul line, compared with Atlanta's
24-for-32."We came out like we were supposed to, with a lot of
energy,'' Wade said. "But this is a good team. They didn't get rattled
at all. They came back and made plays and got back in the game.''Mario
Chalmers scored 14 points and Daequan Cook added 13 for Miami, which
finished with its second-lowest scoring total of the season.The Heat held Atlanta to 38 percent shooting. Problem was, Miami only connected on 39 percent of its shots."They
shot a terrible percentage, too,'' said Heat forward Udonis Haslem. "We
just didn't defend. We fouled and put them on the line. I think they
shot about three times as many free throws as we did. That's where the
game was won.''Wade came in averaging 34.7 points over his last six games but missed nine straight shots at one point."We just tried to make it tough on him,'' Johnson said. "We just tried to make those other guys beat us.''Miami
was without rookie forward Michael Beasley, who sat out with the flu.
It was the first game missed this season by Beasley, who is Miami's
second-leading scorer behind Wade.And yes, it's still relatively early, but both sides gave the game a certain significance.The
win - just Atlanta's third in Miami since Nov. 1, 1996, a span of 24
games - left the Hawks alone in second in the Southeast Division and
fourth in the Eastern Conference, the spots the Heat would have
occupied by winning."Big game tonight,'' Cook said to no one in particular as he walked through the locker room before tipoff.Early on, the Heat looked ready, too.Miami's
game-opening run was its best start this season, by far. And after 7
minutes, the Heat were shooting a sizzling 8-for-12, running out to an
18-5 lead.It didn't last.Over the rest of the half, they
were 9-for-32. That 13-point cushion was long gone by intermission, and
once the Hawks started rolling, Miami couldn't offer any resistance."We
understand that anything is possible when we have three more
quarters,'' Smith said. "It was early on. We didn't give up on
ourselves. We're a resilient team when it comes to fighting back.''Atlanta
had 10 fast-break points in the third quarter alone - compared with
zero by Miami - and outscored the Heat 14-0 over the final 3:59 of the
period.Johnson had 11 points in that quarter, only four fewer
than the entire Heat roster, and the Hawks pushed the margin to 75-55
when Zaza Pachulia's baseline jumper dropped with 55 seconds left in
the third.Pachulia ended the quarter by trying a desperation, one-handed, 80-footer: It didn't miss by much."It
became a real grind-out, toughness-type game,'' Heat coach Erik
Spoelstra said. "They were able to respond and grind it out and turn an
ugly game into a victory.''Notes: The Heat are hopeful Beasley
will play Sunday at Memphis. ... Bibby shot a layup over the top of the
backboard late in the first half, trying to drop a very-high archer
over the outstretched arms of Wade and Udonis Haslem. ... Miami was 8-0
when leading after the first quarter. The Heat were up 25-20 after the
first 12 minutes Friday. ... Heat vice president of player personnel
Chet Kammerer will have the court at Westmont College in Santa Barbara,
Calif. named for him Saturday. Kammerer coached there from 1975 through
1992.