The Miami Heat look to extend their winning streak to three games when they begin a four-game road trip on Sunday in Atlanta against the Hawks.
Miami is coming off back-to-back home wins over Washington, most recently 110-107 on Friday. Atlanta blew a 16-point, second-half lead to the four-win Houston Rockets in a 128-122 loss on Friday.
This marks the first of four regular-season meetings between the two clubs. Last season the Heat won three of the four games.
Miami’s Bam Adebayo is coming off a monster game, scoring a season-high 38 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. It was his second time scoring 30-plus, his ninth time with 10-plus rebounds and his ninth double-double of the season. He has been playing with a left knee contusion.
“It was one of those things where my teammates gave me the ball and I was taking advantage of the mismatch,” Adebayo said. “There were shots that Washington let me have.”
Caleb Martin scored 20 points against Washington and played a sound defensive game against star Bradley Beal.
“I took pride in trying to make stops,” Martin said. “Those of the types of situations you dream about, game on the line against a guy like Bradley Beal with the ball late shot clock. I just tried to make it as tough as possible.”
He’ll get another chance on Sunday when he and his teammates face Atlanta’s prolific backcourt of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray.
Atlanta wasted a combed 83 points Friday from Young (44) and Murray (39), who both had season highs. Murray bettered his own career high of 36 set earlier this season against the New York Knicks. It was the 28th time Young has topped the 40-point mark in his career.
“Defensively, we never established that we could stop this team and when we did force them to miss and they beat us to the glass with 22 offensive boards,” Atlanta coach Nate McMillan said. “No defense at all in this game … 122 points is enough points to win a game.”
Atlanta played without center Clint Capela (11.1 points, 11.9 rebounds, 1.6 blocks). He sat out the game with a toothache but is expected to return on Sunday. Onyeka Okongwu struggled to replace him and produced only four points — all of them free throws, as he did not attempt a shot — although he had 11 rebounds and two blocks in 33 minutes.
“I know we didn’t have Clint tonight for our rebounds,” Young said. “But we still should have been able to rebound and do a better job that way. That really hurt us.”
The Hawks have scored at least 100 points in each of their first 19 games, the best mark for the franchise since it moved to Atlanta and only two away from matching the record of 21 set by the 1960-61 St. Louis Hawks. Atlanta has scored 100-plus points in 40 straight, the longest active streak in the NBA.
The Heat continue to deal with injuries. Dewayne Dedmon is playing with plantar fasciitis in his left foot, Tyler Herro has a left ankle sprain and Haywood Highsmith is battling an inflamed right hip. The Heat are also without star Jimmy Butler, who has missed five games with right knee soreness.
–Field Level Media
