Trae Young outduels Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler and Hawks upset Heat to start second half
The Miami Heat’s battle with the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday turned into an All-Star duel in the fourth quarter. Trae Young did everything he could on the offensive end for the Hawks. Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler took turns doing everything on offense for the Heat. The game-changing play, though, was made by Cam Reddish.
After the three All-Stars took turns creating offense for themselves and others, the rookie combo guard stripped Goran Dragic near midcourt and dropped in a go-ahead layup with 31.4 seconds left. Miami never got out of the late hole. The Hawks hung on to win 129-124 in Atlanta.
The Heat (35-20) had a chance to take the lead on the next possession, when Butler got a look at a three-pointer from the right wing, but the All-Star wing hit back rim and Adebayo couldn’t gather the rebound. Young sunk three more free throws on the other end to finish with a career-high 50 points and seal the Hawks’ win.
Young either scored or assisted on eight of Atlanta’s last 10 points. Adebayo and Butler combined to score all of Miami’s final 15 points. They battled to a near draw and the Hawks (16-41) dominated the minutes when neither Adebayo nor Butler were on the court.
Adebayo, who played in his first NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, finished with 28 points, 19 rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Butler finished with 17 points, eight rebounds, nine assists and two steals. Both had a plus-minus of plus-14 when they were on the floor.
Miami tried to tinker throughout the first half and it left the Heat in dire straits in front of 17,356 at State Farm Arena. Miami started forward Jae Crowder, just acquired Feb. 6, for the first time. The Heat made wing Solomon Hill, also acquired in the trade-deadline deal with the Memphis Grizzlies, its first player off the bench. Spoelstra used 10 different players in the first 10 minutes of the game, then tried to skate with a group of reserves through the end of the first quarter and the start of the second.
Adebayo and Butler spent nearly 7:35 straight together on the bench, save for a six-second defensive stint for Adebayo at the very end of the first. The Hawks outscored Miami, 19-9, in those minutes, then pushed the lead up to 52-41 with a 15-0 run, which extended even when the two stars returned to the floor.
Eventually, Butler stabilized the Heat. Miami closed the half on a 21-9 run of its own, fueled by Butler and Adebayo. Butler scored six of the Heat’s last eight points in the second quarter and assisted on a pair of threes during the run. Adebayo had three rebounds, two assists and a steal to go into halftime with eight points, nine rebounds, six assists and two steals.
This story was originally published February 20, 2020 at 10:14 PM.
