There is work to be done — and plenty of it.
The Hawks went up against the two-time defending champion Heat and were soundly drubbed 104-88 on Tuesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena. If this was a measuring stick of where the new-look Hawks stand, they are staring at a big hill to climb.
The Heat forced the Hawks into 24 turnovers en route to their eighth consecutive win against their division opponent. The average margin of victory for the Heat has been 11 points.
“Turnovers were the name of the game tonight. Twenty-four. That’s two games worth for us normally. They caused a lot of them in the half-court defense. That’s why they are the champions. You don’t win championships without playing great defense. They do a great job of trapping the ball and taking away passing lanes. That is an area of growth for us, for sure.”
The Hawks (6-5), who had a two-game win streak snapped, were led by Mike Scott with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds. Pero Antic and Al Horford had 12 points apiece. Horford, who did not score in the second half, had seven rebounds and seven turnovers. Jeff Teague was limited to nine and seven assists.
The Heat (8-3) were led by Chris Bosh with 19 points. Ray Allen added 17 points. LeBron James added 13 points in 31 minutes.
“Give Miami and their defense a lot of credit,” coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Their activity can make it difficult on you offensively. We turned the ball over too many times to stay with Miami. They shot the ball well from the 3-point line. They are a very good team. Our group played well for two and half, three quarters and there are a lot of positives to take from those first three quarters. We’ll work to improve on the turnovers, our spacing and the ball movement and defensively getting to 3-point shooters and taking guys off the line.”
Korver extended his streak to 84 consecutive games with a 3-pointer. He is five shy of the NBA record set by Dana Barros.
The Heat broke open a close game, no team led by more than six through the first half, with a 30-point third quarter. They led by as many as 15 points in the period. In one stretch of 1:33, the Heat scored 12 consecutive points, a 3-pointer by James Jones, a three-point play by Mario Chalmers and then back-to-back 3-pointers by Chalmers.
“I thought they picked up their energy level another notch,” Korver said. “They really killed us with some big 3’s. I think Chalmers hit a couple big 3’s in a row. They were tough. They were after we made bad plays on the offensive end and they hit dagger 3’s on us. We just didn’t respond in that little stretch there.”
The Heat led 48-45 at the half, thanks to a 13-2 second-quarter run. James, who was held scoreless in the first quarter, scored six of the Heat points.
The Heat played 11 of their available 13 players in the first half, and all but one scored.
The Hawks led for most of the first half. A Horford basket with 7:54 remaining in the first quarter gave the Hawks a 7-6 lead. They would not trail until a James basket with 3:47 remaining in the second quarter put the Heat up 40-38.
Horford committed six of his turnovers in the first half. Gustavo Ayon, Teague and Korver all had three turnovers. Only DeMarre Carroll and Cartier Martin did not have at least one turnover.
“They trapped every ball screen,” Teague said. “That played a big role. We just didn’t take our time. We had too many turnovers. We just didn’t take the first available shot. We over-passed almost. We had a lot of open looks and tried to make the extra pass. Against this team, you have to take the first available. They fly around. That is what they do best, try to create turnovers.”
The Hawks played without Paul Millsap, who remained in Atlanta with a sore right elbow, and Lou Williams, who sat in the first of back-to-back games. The Heat were likewise shorthanded as they played without Dwyane Wade, who was rested.
The Hawks host the Pistons Wednesday.
