This time the Hawks didn't look as if they were taking it easy until starting the playoffs at Orlando this weekend. At least Atlanta's bench players played that way.
After the Heat seemingly buried the Hawks in a 20-point hole, Atlanta staged a furious rally behind its reserves and tied the game late before losing 98-90 at Philips Arena.
"They came in and did a really good job, and it's about effort," Hawks coach Larry Drew said. "It's not about X's and it's got nothing to do with O's. It's about going out there and putting forth the effort, and I thought our bench guys came in and played hard and with a lot of energy. They were attacking."
With the victory and Boston's overtime loss to Washington, Miami locked up the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. Atlanta lost its season-high fifth game in a row.
Since being locked into the No. 5 seed in the East the Hawks had lackluster efforts in weekend losses at Indiana and Washington; the Pacers are a marginal playoff team and the Wizards are among the worst teams in the East.
A visit from the Heat seemed to awaken Atlanta from its slumber. The Hawks appeared more focused and energized but couldn't overcome big games from the Heat's All-Star trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, and two late 3-pointers from James Jones.
Atlanta's bench players made the Heat work for the victory. They led the comeback that forced Heat coach Erik Spoelstra to put his starters back in the game in the fourth quarter.
Drew met with each of his bench players earlier in the day and told them he needed a good effort.
"We knew we [were] going to get an opportunity to get in tonight," Hawks backup guard Jeff Teague said. "Us bench players, we talked about when we got in there we [were] going to play hard and try to get a win, and that's exactly what we did."
The Heat twice led by 20 points in the third quarter but the Hawks came back once their starters took a seat. Forward Damien Wilkins scored on consecutive baskets to cap a 22-7 run that cut the Heat's lead to 84-81 with under seven minutes to play.
Hawks forward Josh Powell scored on back-to-back baskets to trim the lead to 86-85. After the Hawks failed to score following two offensive rebounds, Heat center Zydrunas Ilgauskas made two free throws followed by a score from Hawks center Zaza Pachulia.
As Pachulia ran back down the court, Ilgauskas threw the ball at his back.
"I didn't know if it was a ball or punch," Pachulia said.
Officials ejected Ilgauskas and Jamal Crawford made the technical foul shot to tie the game at 88-88 with 3:28 to play. Yet the Heat finished stronger.
Jones converted a four-point play and sank another 3-pointer, and then James made a free throw and basket to push Miami's lead to 98-90. During that run the Hawks failed to score on five of six possessions, three ending in turnovers.
Atlanta's starters didn't play in the fourth quarter and Drew said he wasn't tempted to bring them back off the bench.
"Not one bit," he said.
James, Wade and Bosh combined to outscore the Hawks 49-46 in the first half and finished with 70 points. Hawks starting guards Kirk Hinrich and Joe Johnson combined for just 11 points and 3 of 16 shooting in 43 minutes.
Atlanta's reserves outscored their Heat counterparts 44-14.
"It was encouraging to see that they came out and competed hard," Hawks center Al Horford said. "And [Miami] is not average team; that's a great team. I'm just happy to see our bench stepping up big time."
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