Heat take care of Hawks and escape in double OT, 117-111

After losing in a close one to the Indiana Pacers on Sunday and falling to the eight seed in the East, the Miami Heat played another “clutch game” against the Atlanta Hawks on the road. This time they were able to close it out in what was the team’s final regular season road game.

It took two overtime’s, but Miami escaped with the 117-111 win and improve to 44-35 on the season. It was the first double overtime game for the Heat since the beginning of 2022.

This one was a true grind-out style victory, in what featured a 15-point Heat lead evaporating by the fourth quarter. The Hawks had a 33-21 advantage in the third that brought them back into the game.

Dejounte Murray led the way for Atlanta with a 29/13/13 triple-double. His shot making and creation on the offensive end single handedly kept the Hawks in this game.

However, a 30+ point performance from Tyler Herro on an efficient 52% from the field was enough to propel the Heat to withstand the Hawks come back down the stretch. Herro has returned from a 20-game absence due to injury and looks like he has not missed a beat. He has been sharp and has took on a lot of minutes since returning, proving that his talent on the offensive end is a big part of the Heat’s success.

Absolutely EVERYTHING this Heat team was missing. Comes back from missing 20 games and goes straight to cooking♨️🔥 https://t.co/GIWHNuJkmX

— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 10, 2024

Herro was able to create for himself and others; scoring on all three levels of the court throughout the night. He was able to close it out in that double overtime with a huge floater that iced the game. Herro had a team high +\- of 15.

“It shows he’s a winner. He’s always willing to do whatever it takes… whatever it takes to win, I think he was the epitome of that tonight.”

“I understand how much he cares about the game/winning.. I know how much money he’s going to make in this league.”

Jimmy on Tyler/Niko pic.twitter.com/lCytNO7MF0

— Naveen Ganglani (@naveenganglani) April 10, 2024

Jimmy Butler also was affective, registering a 25/9/8 near triple-double. He was aggressive in getting to the free throw line, going 10/13 from the stripe. The Heat seem to have the most success when Butler is attacking like this. His impact was felt on both ends, who also added 3 steals on the night.

Jimmy Butler tonight:

🔸25 PTS
🔸9 ASTS
🔸8 RBS
🔸3 STLS
🔸7/14 FG (50%)
🔸10/13 FT
🔸44 MIN

Getting in Playoff form😤🔥 pic.twitter.com/6sv6fAmS9X

— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 10, 2024

The real story of the game for Miami could have been the performance of Nikola Jovic. At just 20 years old, Jovic showcased his talents in a career outing with 23 points and 8 rebounds on 8/12 shooting, 5/8 from 3-point range, including a huge corner triple in the overtime periods.

His development as the team’s starting power forward in the front court next to Bam Adebayo has been promising and the brightest spot of the Heat’s entire regular season.

“Niko was fantastic tonight. I often have to remind myself that Niko is 20, but he’s getting better by each month. You saw it tonight. That was winning 🏀. Both ends of the court. ”

“He’s been really important… Niko is fearless in those moments of truth.”

– Spo on Jovic pic.twitter.com/bwMInNJOPx

— Naveen Ganglani (@naveenganglani) April 10, 2024

Adebayo and Haywood Highsmith also impacted the game on both ends and helped round out the Butler, Herro and Jovic trio to close out the end of the fourth and both overtime periods. That unit put in the most minutes on the team.

Heat minutes in 2OT dub tonight in Atlanta

– Herro: 48 MIN
– Bam: 48 MIN
– Jimmy: 44 MIN
– Jovic: 40 MIN
– Highsmith: 35 MIN

That was the closing lineup in the fourth and both OT’s. Grind out game for the Culture💯

— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 10, 2024

Highsmith hit a huge 3-pointer of his own at the end of the first overtime that kept the Heat alive. He finished with 13 points and 7 rebounds on 50% shooting off the bench. His one-on-one defense against Murray was crucial, as he forced the Hawks All-Star guard into 38.7% shooting on the night. Highsmith was able to get the necessary stops on the explosive scoring guard all throughout crunch time.

Adebayo had just 10/7/7 but only attempted eight shots, going 50% from the field himself.

Miami shot better as a team than Atlanta both from the field and 3-point range, going for 48% and 40% on the game respectively. The Hawks shot just 22% from three.

Coach Erik Spoelstra went with a nine-man rotation in this one, as he is trying to put together a trustworthy playoff rotation with not much time to spare. In Terry Rozier’s absence with neck spasms, Spoelstra paired Caleb Martin with Herro in the starting backcourt. Martin struggled offensively but was active on the defensive side and with his point of attack defense, which added some versatility to that Heat lineup.

Spoelstra went with the four-man bench rotation of Highsmith, Kevin Love, Delon Wright and Jaime Jaquez Jr. Wright was another player who was impactful in 21 minutes off the bench.

The Heat won the season series against the Hawks 3-1. These two teams could see eachother again in the play-in, depending on if Miami will need another game to advance after they face Philadelphia 76ers in the 7/8 matchup.

It was a big win in a road atmosphere and now the team will travel back to South Florida for three straight home games to finish the season.

It will be interesting to see if Spoelstra opts to rest any of his guys on the second night of a back-to-back tonight against Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and the visiting Dallas Mavericks.

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