Deep breath.
The losing streak is over.
The Hawks snapped a seven-game losing streak at the expense of the injury-ravaged Heat, winning 103-95 Wednesday night at Philips Arena. The win was only the second in the past 12 games for the Hawks. No matter the circumstances, the Hawks will take it. It’s been a long time. The last win came Nov. 23, 14 days ago.
The Hawks (11-12) were led by duo of Dwight Howard and Paul Millsap. Howard recorded his 15th double-double of the season with 23 points and 17 rebounds. Millsap added 21 points and nine rebounds. The Hawks also got double-digit scoring from Dennis Schroder (17) and Thabo Sefolosha (10).
The Heat (7-15) played with just nine healthy players and lost their third straight game. They were led by Tyler Johnson off the bench with career-high 27 points. Hassan Whiteside finished with eight points and 12 rebounds. He had 19 points and 25 rebounds in a Hawks win in Miami last month.
An injury-depleted Heat team did not guarantee a Hawks victory. You will remember last season when the Heat came to Atlanta with just nine players and recorded a 115-111 win on Feb. 19, the first game back from the All-Star break. The Heat victory, without Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Whiteside, ended up giving the Heat the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs over the Hawks.
The Hawks built double-digit leads in each quarter. They led by as many as 14 in the fourth quarter. The Heat used an 11-0 run to close within three points, 83-80, with seven minutes remaining. Sefolosha stopped the run with a dunk off a Mike Muscala miss that brought the Hawks bench and home crowd to its feet. It started an 8-0 Hawks run that brought the much-needed victory.
Tim Hardaway Jr., who started for an injured Kent Bazemore, suffered an left knee injury in the fourth quarter. After being attended to on the bench he limped to the locker room. Hardaway said he banged knees with a Heat player and reported that he will be fine.
