Kingston Flemings breaks out but Hawks lose to Heat

Heat forward Andrew Wiggins was prophetic after all.

Wiggins spoke boldly earlier Wednesday, telling reporters that Miami was hours from its first victory. The Hawks had a chance to render him foolish on their home floor. Alas, they played the jester role.

The Hawks (2-3) lost their third straight game, 129-117. They dipped below .500 for the first time this season.

“Give Miami credit for the way they played,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “They beat us.”

It was a frustrating evening as the Heat answered each Hawks punch with one of their own. The Hawks fell behind in the first quarter and couldn’t climb out of the deficit.

Miami at one point led by 18. The Hawks pulled within four at the 6-minute mark of the fourth following an Onyeka Okongwu 3-pointer, but they couldn’t draw closer.

The rebounding issue loomed large again. The Hawks haven’t out-rebounded their opponent since the opener in Orlando. And a Miami team that’d been struggling to mesh took full advantage.

The Hawks were out-rebounded 52-40 after losing that battle 52-35 against the Rockets on Monday. Heat big man Bam Adebayo had his best game thus far, scoring 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 24 points and 18 rebounds, including five offensive boards. This is the exact type of personnel that was expected to give the Hawks trouble. They surrendered 70 points in the paint.

“They have size across their frontline,” Snyder said, crediting the Heat but expressing frustration with some of the Hawks’ defensive lapses.

Miami led for 90% of the game. Consider how defining the rebound discrepancy was: The Hawks shot 48% to Miami’s 53%. They shot better from three (16-of-38 vs. 11-of-29), had 35 assists to Miami’s 36, and had one fewer turnover (15 vs. 16). They weren’t drastically outplayed overall, but they lost badly inside.

A bright spot: Hawks’ rookie guard Kingston Flemings, who highlighted a strong night with an electric breakaway dunk early in the fourth quarter that brought State Farm Arena to its feet. Flemings also caught attention cutting to the rim for a layup in the second.

Flemings had 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting. He added five rebounds, a steal and a block. “I was just staying aggressive,” he said. Flemings said he’s still adjusting to the speed of the league, and the key for him is to continue attacking.

He continues to impress with the eye test; Flemings consistently shows basketball smarts and has given plenty of reason to believe he’s the type of talent who’ll be conducive to winning for a long time.

“Kingston gave us a lift,” Snyder said. The coach applauded veteran CJ McCollum, who surrendered minutes for Fleming to try engineering a rally. McCollum played 20 minutes, whereas Flemings played 28, including 19 straight minutes and an opportunity to close the game. McCollum is all about the team, Snyder said, and has been an important part of Flemings’ development. The rookie said McCollum’s support has been “otherworldly.”

Hawks guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 23 points on 8-of-18 shooting. He was the only Hawks player with a positive plus-minus (plus-six).