A few hours before the Hawks played host to the Heat on Thursday, Larry Drew wasn't buying it.
“We ain't falling into that [trap],” Atlanta's coach said.
Hawks center Al Horford also didn't want to hear it.
“We know they are both going to play,” Horford said. “That's the way it's going to be.”
So the Hawks prepared as if LeBron James and Dwyane Wade would play. It turned the Heat's two stars didn't suit up because of injuries, but instead of taking the chance to beat up on Miami's skeleton crew the Hawks thought they could take it easy.
Miami's supporting cast wouldn't let them. The Heat rallied in the final seconds of regulation and then beat Atlanta 116-109 in triple overtime at Philips Arena.
“This by far has to be my worst defeat here as a Hawk," Horford said. "I didn’t feel like we wanted to win this game.”
With James and Wade on the bench in street clothes, the Heat got 33 points from Chris Bosh and 29 from Mario Chalmers. Both players made key plays at crucial moments as James and Wade cheered them on.
"I wish they would have played, to be perfectly honest," Drew said of Miami's two best players. "I think if they would have played we would have taken a whole different approach."
The Hawks played until almost midnight in the first game of a back-to-back-to-back set. They are at Charlotte on Friday before playing host to Chicago on Saturday.
The Hawks missed two free throws and gave up two layups in the final minute of regulation. That led to a game-tying 3-pointer from Bosh with 0.6 seconds to go.
Drew said he didn't want the Hawks to foul to prevent a 3-point try.
“I trust my defense in that situation," he said. "We did everything right except we had a breakdown on our switch. We didn’t switch it. It just took a moment for Bosh to step back and get open. I thought we did everything perfect up that point.”
Chalmers missed a rushed 3-pointer at the end of the first overtime and Atlanta couldn't get off a shot at the end of the second. Miami finally ended the game by scoring the first seven points of the third overtime and closing out the Hawks.
The Heat were at full strength when they lost to the Hawks 100-92 at Miami on Monday. The Heat had less talent on the floor for the rematch but won with a spirited effort.
"They are a good team without those guys," Hawks guard Willie Green said. "They proved it tonight. We have to learn from this. We made a lot of mistakes. You think it's going to be easy, but it's not."
Miami opened up a 67-54 lead in the third quarter. The Hawks, listless for much of the night, finally responded with a 16-1 run that gave them a 70-68 lead at the end of the period, their first advantage since 46-44.
Joe Johnson started the burst with back-to-back jump shots. Smith had a three-point play and rookie Ivan Johnson dunked after a steal, two of Atlanta's nine points off nine turnovers in the third quarter.
That play fired up the Hawks but they still couldn't shake the Heat.
Miami had two 3-point attempts rim out while trailing 82-80 in the final five minutes of regulation. Chalmers scored on a drive to tie the score at 82-82 with 3:17 to go, and Atlanta answered with Joe Johnson's jump shot and Tracy McGrady's 3-pointer for an 87-82 lead.
The Heat still wouldn't wilt: Chalmers made two free throws and Bosh scored on a drive to cut Atlanta's lead to 87-86 with 1:30 left. After Johnson made two free throws and McGrady made one to push Atlanta's lead back to 90-86, Chalmers scored on another drive with 52.6 seconds remaining.
McGrady made two more free throws and Johnson added another to give Atlanta a 93-90 lead with 10 seconds left. The Heat scrambled to get off a shot before Bosh sank a 26-footer to force the first of three overtimes.
“That’s a miscommunication there," Horford said. "That went on all game. Guys were not on the same page and we weren’t switching."
The game lost some of its sizzle when James and Wade were forced to sit.
A left foot injury kept Wade out of Miami's game against Indiana on Wednesday. James stayed in that game after twisting his left ankle late; he tested the injury before Thursday's game before bowing out.
The Heat were left with All-Star forward Bosh plus a collection of nondescript players. Bosh did the most damage but the Hawks also had trouble with the likes of Chalmers and rookies Norris Cole and Terrel Harris.
After falling behind behind 7-2, Miami came back to lead for most of the rest of the half and were up 54-49 at halftime. It wasn't until late in the third quarter that the Hawks showed the kind of defensive grit they had at Miami and Chicago but the Heat had confidence by then.
