Hawks keep Wade in check

One superstar. No win.

The Hawks rolled to a Game 1 victory over Miami Sunday in the first-round Eastern Conference playoff series. This despite the best efforts of Heat star Dwyane Wade.

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Brant Sanderlin/bsanderlin@ajc.com

Al Horford was among four Hawks who scored in double figures. He netted 14 points.

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Wade, the NBA’s leading scorer, finished with 19 points as the Hawks won 90-64. It was well below his league-leading 30.2 points a game average.

Was he impressive? At times.

Was it enough? Not even close.

While Wade was most of the Heat offense, the Hawks relied on a steady dose of team offense. Four players scored in double-figures by halftime. Josh Smith led them with 17 points, equaling Wade’s total. All eight Hawks players that played in the first half scored.

“How do you stop Dwyane Wade? You hope he stays in the locker room,” Hawks coach Mike Woodson said before the game. “Joe [Johnson] will start out on Wade, but one guy is not going to stop Wade. He can beat double and triple teams.

“We can’t just zero in on one guy,” Woodson said. “We’ve got to stop Miami. It ain’t just us stopping Wade. We’ve got to stop the Heat as a whole.”

Wade’s 17 first-half points were nearly half the Heat total of 39. The Hawks merely led by 20 points at the intermission. After three quarters, the lead was 19 points.

Johnson and Mo Evans handled most of the duties of guarding Wade. He forced the action often, finishing with eight turnovers. Wade scored in several ways – by dunk, by jumper, by 3-pointer, by free throw, even on a goaltending call. His reverse dunk over ZaZa Pachulia on a give-and-go was impressive – equaling every bit on his nickname “The Flash.”

On this night, the Hawks used substance over flash.

“He is a great scorer,” Mario West said. “You have to make things as tough on him as possible. You have to frustrate him any way you can.”

The Heat didn’t have another double-digit scorer until Michael Beasley tallied his 10th point with 10:12 remaining.

The Hawks built their large margin in the second quarter, outscoring the Heat 35-18. Wade scored just six points.

The Hawks have had success against the Heat this season, despite Wade’s efforts. They won three of the four regular-season games. Wade averaged 25.7 points in the three games he played against the Hawks prior to the playoffs. His high was 35 points in a 95-79 Heat win in January. He scored 21 points in each of the other two games, both Hawks wins. The Hawks won the final regular-season game last week when Wade did not dress.