The Hawks returned home after a long trip and fell to the Heat 117-109 on Saturday night.
Here are five observations.
1. Through the first month of the season, the Hawks have allowed themselves to be a team that has to claw back after falling behind. They found themselves in another hole, trailing by as many as 21 points, but a late rally felll short. De’Andre Hunter sank a baseline jumper with 2:49 remaing to pull the Hawks within 113-102 and then broke up a Haywood Highsmith layup attempt.
The Hawks answered as Bogdan Bogdanovic hit a 3-pointer, Clint Capela scored a second-chance layup and Trae Young hit a pair of free throws that brought them within six points, 115-109, with 50 seconds remaining. They would get no closer.
The Hawks had 21 turnovers, many of which came off trying to drive through traffic in the paint. Hawks coach Quin Snyder has talked about them needing to take more shots from deep because they have passed up too many.
“We had some open looks that we didn’t take,” Snyder said. “If you’ve got those, you have to take them because there’s a good chance you’re driving into bodies if you get into the lane, and you have to add poise and play off two feet and use fakes and do all those things in order to find other people. We didn’t do that on the level we needed to by any means.”
2. The Hawks looked like a team fresh off a long road trip that included an international stop. Coming into the game, the Hawks looked flat and the Heat jumped on them.
They were slow to get back in transition and the Heat cashed in with easy buckets. Miami outscored the Hawks 41-24 after the first quarter despite the absences of Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro and Caleb Martin. The Hawks gave up six fast break points, 18 points in the paint and allowed Miami to close 70% from the floor.
The Heat had a big helping hand from Bam Adebayo, who made all but one of his five overall shot attempts off difficult jumpers from midrange in the first wuarter . The Hawks challenged and tried to force the two-time All-Star away from the basket but he kept finding the bottom of the net. Adebayo ended the night with 26 points, without needing to attacking the basket. Just two of his shots came at the rim.
3. After the Heat extended their lead to as many as 21 points with 4:41 in the second quarter despite a spirited protest of an offensive from Snyder that resulted in him getting a technical. The Hawks eventually cut the Heat’s lead to eight points, before a 3-pointer at the buzzer from Miami rookie Jaime Jaquez made the score 63-52.
Dejounte Murray had a 12-point third quarter where he knocked a pair of 3-pointers, one of which cut the Hawks lead to 74-61 with 7:15 in the period.
Trae Young led the Hawks with a game-high 27 points and 11 assists. Murray finished with 23 points. Adebayo led six players in double-figures with 26 points and 17 rebounds.
4. The Hawks saw the return of veteran guard Wesley Matthews, who missed the first eight games of the season with a mild calf strain. Matthews played seven minutes after the Hawks held him to a 10-minute restriction to avoid undoing the work of his rehab.
But Matthews made an impact in his short time, knocking down a pair of 3s that helped stave off the Heat.
5. The Hawks debuted this season’s City Edition jerseys and a few players mmatched their kicks to the team’s latest threads. The Hawks leaned into the colors of its jersey when it first arrived to Atlanta . So this season’s City Edition jerseys and court have an element of blue in them.
Trae Young, De’Andre Hunter and Jalen Johnson all were shoes that included some blue.
Stat to know
Dejounte Murray has made three-or-more 3-pointers in three straight games, the second-longest such streak of his career.
Quotable
“We just got to shoot the ball. When you catch the ball the just shoot it. We don’t gotta hesitate.” Trae Young on what he saw.
Up Next
The Hawks kick off In-Season Tournament play on Tuesday when they head to Detroit to face the Pistons.
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