Bam Adebayo scored 26 points with 17 rebounds and rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. added a career-high 20 points as the Miami Heat beat the Atlanta Hawks 117-109 on Saturday night for their fourth straight victory.
Miami played its first game since shooting guard Tyler Herro sprained his ankle Wednesday night with a 108-102 win at Memphis. Herro should be out for at least two weeks. Co-scorer Jimmy Butler left the game against Atlanta for personal reasons.
Coach Erik Spoelstra said he got a strong hint in the pregame meeting that the players want to fill the void left by Herro and Butler when he told the team that “some guys have to step up.”
Spoelstra added, “Everybody leaned forward with body language and said, ‘That’s me.'” and #039;
The Heat showed their depth to find scoring from a variety of sources. Kyle Lowry had 17 points and Josh Richardson had 16, also a season high. Duncan Robinson scored 11 points in his first start of the season. Kevin Love scored seven points.
Jaquez, making his third start, nearly doubled his previous high of 11 points against Memphis.
“I wouldn’t say necessarily to win,” Jaquez said when asked how he sees his role in the new lineup. “I would say you just have to make plays.”
The emergence of different scorers was not a surprise to Spoelstra, who said before the game that he had “a lot of guys trying to get more minutes … guys are ready.”
Trae Young led Atlanta with 27 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter, and 11 assists. Dejounte Murray scored 23 points. Each guard attempted nine 3-pointers, but coach Quin Snyder was not happy with his team’s 18-of-46 shooting from long range. “We had a good look that we didn’t take,” Snyder said.
Young added, “Weand#039;re going to shoot the ball. When we get the ball, shoot it. Donand#039;t hesitate.”
Young said Miami’s defense makes you think you have a lane and other guys are there to help. If you are not ready to shoot three against this team, and#039; it’s going to be a tough night.”
Jaquez, UCLA’s first-round pick, hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the first half, giving Miami a 63-52 lead.
Miami led by 21 late in the first half. Atlantaand#039;s last lead was 5-4.
The Hawks were averaging 121.8 points per game, third in the league. It was the best average through eight games for the franchise since the St. Louis Hawks averaged 117.5 in the start of the 1960-61 season.
Hawks guard Wesley Matthews (right calf) sank two 3-pointers in the third quarter and scored seven points in his first game of the season. Matthews#039; Father Wesley Matthews Sr. played a total of 152 games in Atlanta (1980-83, 84 and 1990). They will become the first father-son duo to play for the Hawks.
The Hawks debuted their fly city edition uniforms with the blue accent used on their first Atlanta uniform in 1968.
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