Atlanta Hawks Impress on Road, Beat Heat 98-92

The Atlanta Hawks won their biggest game of the season thus far on Tuesday against the Miami Heat, defeating their Southeast division rivals by a score of 96-92 at American Airlines Arena.

Jeff Teague shined for the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday, scoring 26 points on 9-18 shooting, while also dishing out 9 assists. Teague did it all against the Heat, also corralling 6 rebounds and recording 1 steal. Teague was the motor that moved the Atlanta Hawks offense against the Heat, helping the team secure an important early season victory against a team that many projected to overtake them in the standings this preseason.

Al Horford notched a double-double on Tuesday, scoring 17 points on 8-17 shooting and recorded 13 rebounds. Paul Millsap also recorded a double-double against the Heat, scoring 12 points and recording 10 rebounds. Against a team like the Miami Heat and their excellent front-court tandem of Chris Bosh and Hassan Whiteside, the Atlanta Hawks for the second consecutive game found a way to out-rebound their opponent, recording 51 rebounds to the Heat’s 49.

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Tiago Splitter had a lot to do with this, as his 21 minutes off the bench allowed the Atlanta Hawks to box out more effectively and secure rebounds. Most importantly for the Atlanta Hawks, they mitigated the Heat’s ability to procure offensive boards, as the home team finished the game with only 13. Last season — and especially in the Eastern Conference Finals — the Atlanta Hawks gave their opponent’s too many opportunities after they got offensive rebounds. It’s encouraging to see the team start to trend in the right direction.

For the Miami Heat, Hassan Whiteside once again had a monstrous game, scoring 23 points on 11-12 shooting while also corralling 14 rebounds. Dwyane Wade scored 21 points on the night, but for the most part was a non-factor in a game that the Atlanta Hawks controlled for its entirety. Goran Dragic also recorded 19 points. Whiteside, Wade and Dragic scored 63 of the Heat’s 92 points on the night.

Tuesday marked the first game that Justin Holiday has seen extended minutes this regular season. He made the most of his time on the court, and also received some important minutes playing with the starters down the stretch as the Heat began to make a run to close the game. Holiday scored 7 points on 3-7 shooting, including an important 3-pointer.

Tim Hardaway Jr. did not see any playing time against the Heat, making it the fifth straight game that he has failed to appear in. With both Holiday and Lamar Patterson both seeing minutes against Miami, this situation continues to become stranger by the day. When will see Tim Hardaway play?

Next: Atlanta Hawks Travel to Miami to Face Heat

The Atlanta Hawks played well defensively on Tuesday, but still at times looked somewhat sloppy on offense. The season is only 1 week old, so at this point there is still no cause for concern. The team will continue to develop chemistry. Nonetheless, the Atlanta Hawks victory over the Miami Heat was impressive, and put the Eastern Conference on notice that the rumors of the Hawks demise is greatly exaggerated. The 4-1 Atlanta Hawks play the second game of a back-to-back set tomorrow when they return to Philips Arena to face the Brooklyn Nets.

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