Heat throttle Trae Young, beats Hawks behind big night from Bam: Details and takeaways

Takeaways from the Heat’s 117-109 win against the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night at Miami-Dade County Arena:

▪ After dismal second quarter performances in the previous two games, the Heat delivered a dominant first half display, then watched the Hawks slice a 21-point deficit to five, but ultimately survived.

After the Hawks trimmed Miami’s lead to 93-87 with just under nine minutes left, Tyler Herro hit back-to-back threes to push the lead back to 12.

Four times in the fourth quarter, the Hawks closed to within five. Each time, Miami had an immediate answer - first a Caleb Martin three, then a jumper from Herro and then two baskets from Bam Adebayo, on a floater and a left-handed runner.

The Heat unleashed a late 7-0 run to seal it, including a Jimmy Butler basket and free throw and a Martin dunk.

Adebayo scored 12 of 30 in the fourth quarter, closing 10 for 12 both from the field and the line.

Herro, who had 10 points through three quarters, scored 10 in the fourth quarter, and all of them were big. He had six rebounds and five assists to go with his 20 points on 8 for 21 shooting.

Jimmy Butler chipped in 15 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists and two steals.

The Heat show resilience in coming back strong after a demoralizing 122-120 loss to the Knicks a night earlier, on a late high-degree-of-difficulty three by Julius Randle.

This win “was important,” Herro said. “It speaks volumes to our mental toughness as a unit. We’ve been through a lot of ups and downs as a unit.”

As Erik Spoelstra said: “The best thing for us, coming off a game like that, was to be able to play the very next night.”

The Heat gave itself a cushion because of a strong start.

Earlier this week, the Heat allowed 71 points in the first half of consecutive home games for the first time ever, in losses to Philadelphia and the Knicks.

On Saturday, the Heat stormed to a 66-49 halftime lead, holding the Hawks to 5 for 15 three-point shooting and limited high-scoring Hawks guards Trae Young and Dejounte Murray to a combined seven points on 3 for 11 first-half shooting.

This was the Heat’s biggest halftime advantage since taking a 19-point lead in a game at New Orleans in January.

Through three quarters, Young and Murray had combined for just 14 points on 4 for 21 shooting.

Young, who entered averaging 27 points, struggled against the Heat, which is usually the case when the teams play in Miami. He opened 1 for 9 from the field, and closed with a season-low eight points on 2 for 13 shooting, to go along with 10 assists, five steals and five turnovers in 32 minutes.

He spent the first six minutes on the bench in the fourth quarter before returning with the Hawks down nine. After hitting a jumper just after re-entering, Young missed two shots, and the Heat immediately stretched a seven-point lead to 12.

“Just making it tough on him, making him see doubles, trying to make him take difficult shots,” Adebayo said of what the Heat has done defensively against Young. “Gabe [Vincent], Jimmy, Caleb, [Victor Oladipo] have done a tremendous job making his life difficult when he tries to get in his bag.”

Remember that Young averaged just 15.4 points on 32 percent shooting, and 6.2 turnovers per game, in Miami’s five-game first-round win against the Hawks in last year’s playoffs.

Murray, coming off a 41-point game against Portland, scored 10 on 3 for 14 shooting.

This was an exquisite defensive effort against a team that entered averaging 125 points in its past seven games. It also was a sharp contrast to the Heat’s play for much of its early post All-Star break schedule.

Miami improved to 2-4 since the All-Star break and avoided falling to the eighth seed in the East.

The No. 7 Heat (34-31) took a 1.5 game lead over No. 8 Atlanta and maintained a two-game lead over No. 9 Toronto, which beat No. 10 Washington on Saturday. The Wizards are three games behind the Heat.

Teams 7 through 10 participate in the play-in round, with two of those teams then advancing to the playoffs. The seventh seed hosts the eighth seed in one of the games, so finishing seventh and ahead of Atlanta has clear benefits for Miami.

The Heat and Hawks play again on Miami night in Miami. The Heat would extend its lead to 2.5 games over Atlanta - and win the season tiebreaker - with a victory on Monday.

Meanwhile, Miami trails the No. 6 Nets by two games.

▪ The Heat’s centers had a wonderful night.

Adebayo produced a double double for the first time in six games and his 29th of the season.

He finished 10 for 12 from the field, consistently hitting jumpers and driving to the basket with alacrity. His 11 rebounds were his most in a game since Feb. 15 in Brooklyn. And he chipped in two blocks, a steal and five assists.

Adebayo entered averaging 17 points and 6 rebounds on 45 percent shooting in Miami’s first five games since the All-Star break, a stretch when the Heat went 1-4.

Those numbers are well below his season averages of 21.2 points, 9.7 rebounds and 53.6 percent shooting.

“Nothing really changed; I just made shots,” Adebayo said. “They went in tonight.”

Saturday marked the first time that Adebayo has topped 20 points since the All Star break.

“We were able to get him easy baskets at the rim,” Spoelstra said. “That’s important for our team, so it’s not all the recipient of jump shots. He was able to get some easy ones and get to the free throw line. Defensively, he was again really anchoring our defensive schemes.”

Meanwhile, backup center Cody Zeller, who has exceeded all expectations since signing with Miami during the All Star break, scored eight consecutive points at one point in the first half, closing with 13 points and two rebounds in 12 minutes.

That Zeller scoring run included a 13-foot floater, two free throws, a driving layup, a four-foot floater.

Zeller’s play “was super important,” Spoelstra said. “That unit allowed me to give Tyler and Bam a little more rest in the second quarter so they could handle extended minutes in the second half. Cody is just really steady, an experienced, winning player. Complements both units well. Cody was able to screen to get guys open.”

Another Heat center, Omer Yurtseven, had 28 points and 17 rebounds for the Heat’s G-League affiliate in South Dakota, as he continues to work his way back from October ankle surgery.

▪ The Heat’s bench, generally a problem all season, once again got good work from Zeller and Caleb Martin.

Beyond Zeller’s offensive burst, the Heat got another good night from Martin (15 points, three rebounds). Martin once again played ahead of starter Kevin Love down the stretch, logging 30 minutes to Love’s 18.

“Since we made the change [to Love starting], he’s been one of the consistent bright spots in our rotation,” Spoelstra said of Martin.

Victor Oladipo, the NBA’s worst percentage shooter over his past 16 games, shot just 2 for 7. He did contribute solid defense and six assists.

Meanwhile, the Hawks bench got 22 from Saddiq Bey and 13 from Bogdan Bogdanovic.

Atlanta’s bench outscored the Heat’s 55-37.

Miami’s bench entered averaging 27.2 points per game, 29th in the league, ahead of only Portland. The Heat’s bench is shooting 41.2 percent (worst in the league) and shooting 31.9 percent on threes (second worst).

Miami entered with the league’s fourth worst net rating disparity between its own bench and the opponent’s.

There was also a subtle change. Spoelstra gave more minutes to Butler alongside a lineup with three Heat backups, and a group of Butler, Zeller, Max Strus, Martin and starter Gabe Vincent outscored Atlanta by four in the first half.

Spoelstra then had Butler and Vincent play with three Heat reserves late in the third quarter, before Adebayo and Herro returned - and Butler went to the bench for rest - late in the third.

That group - with Adebayo, Herro, Strus, Martin and Oladipo - began the fourth quarter and somewhat weathered a Hawks run before Butler returned with the Heat up five.

“We’ve cycled through a lot of different things,” Spoelstra said. “It’s by any means necessary. We need consistent play throughout our rotation. When you go out of the game, it better be a positive. That’s throughout the roster.”

▪ Spoelstra declined to directly answer questions about two percolating storylines: Kyle Lowry’s timetable and Jimmy Butler’s eyebrow-raising candor after Friday’s loss.

Spoelstra would not answer when asked if the expectation is that Lowry will play again for the Heat this season.

Lowry has missed 12 consecutive games with knee soreness.

The story took a strange turn last week, when Lowry flew to his hometown, Philadelphia, for the third game of a three-game road trip and was upgraded from out to questionable for that game against the 76ers this past Monday.

But after working out with the team in Philadelphia, Lowry determined he wasn’t healthy enough to return. He has missed four games since then and remains out indefinitely.

Spoelstra said Lowry is “making progress. That’s all I’ve got for you.”

Meanwhile, Spoelstra was asked if he agrees with Butler’s comment that Heat players “really get bored with the process” this season.

Spoelstra instead indicated he took no issue with Butler’s comments: “I’m good with all of it. Nobody should be happy right now. All of us will express it in different ways --- our disappointment, frustration and anger about the season.

“It’s a matter of putting it into action, knowing what we need to do to win basketball games.”

Beyond his comment about boredom, Butler also said Friday: “We play hard and sometimes we get back in the game like we did tonight and sometimes we don’t….But for some odd reason, we think it’s going to be easy so we just go out there and go through the motions.”

▪ The Heat began its final week of playing consecutive games against the same opponent, something the NBA is doing more of.

The Heat has fared very well in those matchups, going 10-3 through Saturday.

Miami swept both games (at home) against Charlotte, Washington and Milwaukee, while splitting two consecutive home games with Toronto, two consecutive road games against Boston and home and road games against Philadelphia.

The Heat is playing the Hawks in consecutive games, on Saturday and Monday, both in South Florida. Miami then will play host to Cleveland on Wednesday and Friday.

The Heat’s eight consecutive games against the same opponent are tied for second-most in the league this season, behind only Houston’s nine.

Also, this weekend marked the third and final time this season that Miami played home games on consecutive days. Miami finished 4-2 in those games, with losses to Boston and the Knicks and wins against Toronto, Golden State, Sacramento and Atlanta.

The Heat has played home games on consecutive nights 35 total times in franchise history, winning both only 11 times, splitting the pair 16 times and losing both on eight instances.