The Hawks couldn’t respond to an injury to their top scorer en route to an ugly loss against the Heat in the front half of a home-and-home between the two teams.
The first quarter was fast-paced and evenly matched, and the Heat got their first points of the night from Jimmy Butler, who was making his season debut after missing three games due to the birth of his daughter.
"It felt great… to win at home in front of these fans is special."@JimmyButler puts up 21 PTS, 5 REB, 3 STL in his @MiamiHEAT debut! #HEATTwitter pic.twitter.com/2luO3troHw
— NBA (@NBA) October 30, 2019
John Collins shot four three-point shots for the Hawks in the first quarter, but the star of the show was Jimmy Butler. The 30-year-old made his presence known in this debut game, shooting four field goals, four free throws and connecting on one three-point shot.
Miami left the first quarter with a 29-26 lead.
John Collins for [his fourth] threeeee! pic.twitter.com/WF4lKu3zj0
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) October 30, 2019
In the second quarter, disaster spelled for Atlanta. Trae Young rolled his ankle upon landing on a Justise Winslow steal. Young left the game with what was diagnosed as a right ankle sprain, and x-rays later came back negative.
Considering the way it looked, it might be the best-case scenario for Atlanta. Even if he misses up to two weeks.
His MRI is scheduled for Wednesday.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B4Oh1yyJZ-Q/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
This young Atlanta team would have to produce without their star leader, and it didn’t look good into the halftime break. Poor shooting, allowing offensive rebounds, and undisciplined defense plagued them to a 10-point deficit into the dressing room.
https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT/status/1189341624557588480
Much like the first half went, Atlanta gave up a lot of points at the line. The Hawks committed 10 fouls in the third quarter, and Miami tallied 27 points.
They were staked to a commanding 18-point lead after three.
Atlanta came back strong defensively in the fourth, forcing 12 Miami turnovers. But their comeback was over before it even started, as they simply couldn’t generate offense without Trae Young.
Miami won 112-97.
For a young team like the Hawks, they may consider that game as a building-block for what they need to work on moving forward.
Disciplined defense, smarter shots, and knocking down open shots –– as well as free throws –– are what plagued Atlanta on Tuesday. Improving on that can help them down the road.
The two teams will meet up again on Halloween night at 7:00 p.m. ET on TNT.
https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT/status/1189364012791795713
