Minus three starters, Hawks still too much for Heat

You can add the Heat to the list of teams that can’t win even when the Hawks rest two or more starters.

The Hawks played without starters Jeff Teague, DeMarre Carroll and Al Horford and reserve Pero Antic too and still defeated the Heat 93-91 at American Airlines Arena Saturday night.

“I think there is a lot of belief and faith in our entire roster,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “We’ve got a lot of players who feel like they can step up and contribute. Sometimes you may get more from those guys. It’s a long season and we are working our way through it. It’s a credit to those guys to be ready.”

In January, the Hawks won back-to-back road games against the 76ers and Celtics while resting three and two starters, respectively.

The Hawks (47-12) have won four straight. It was the Hawks’ fourth consecutive win over the Heat, including all three meetings this season. Atlanta’s 20-8 road record is the best in the NBA.

With 23 games remaining in the regular season, the Hawks reduced their magic number to clinch a playoff berth to three games. They lead the Eastern Conference by 10 games over the Bulls and Raptors.

“The mindset is it’s an opportunity for someone else,” Kyle Korver said. “You can fall into a trap when you feel like you have to do more when someone else is out. That is just not the way we are built.”

Paul Millsap led the Hawks with 22 points. The Hawks also got big efforts from starters Dennis Schroder (16 points, 10 assists), Kent Bazemore (15 points) and Elton Brand (seven points). John Jenkins came off the bench with 12 points.

“Them boys played their hearts out,” Millsap said. “We are proud of our guys. Kent did a great job. Dennis, guys off the bench, stepped up for us. It’s a big team win for us.”

The Heat (25-33) have lost two straight. Dwyane Wade had 22 points and Hassan Whiteside added 14 points and a career-high tying 24 rebounds.

The Hawks led wire-to-wire after Bazemore started the game with a basket. They took a 43-33 lead into intermission. The Heat were simply woeful, shooting 28.6 percent (12 of 42) from the field and committing 14 turnovers. Wade accounted for four of the first-half turnovers. Starters Goran Dragic and Luol Deng went scoreless through two quarters. Deng finished with eight points and Dragic had six.

The Hawks pushed their lead to 18 points after a 7-0 run to start the third quarter. The Heat would get as close as seven points before the Hawks took a 64-53 lead into the fourth quarter. The Hawks improved to 41-2 this season when they hold a lead of 10 or more points at any point during a game.