The Atlanta Hawks survived a big 4Q and physicality from the Miami Heat

The Atlanta Hawks (20-25) played perhaps their best three quarters of basketball in their 110-108 victory over the Miami Heat on Friday. They followed it with what could have been equated to their worst simply because of what was at stake. Okay, it’s “just” a three-game winning streak and a chance to tie the season series with Miami when they face them for the last time.

However, it was also the recovering hope of the season.

We’ve been over the chapters of the Hawks season so far many times. A slow start gave way to a skid. That was followed by a winning streak only to have that be followed by the most recent slump.

Now, with this third straight victory, the Hawks can legitimately turn their attention back on getting into the playoffs instead of staying out of their own heads.

The Atlanta Hawks showed toughness and resolve in big win over MIA

It was all Hawks for most of the game with the Heat down Tyler Herro, who gave them fits in the first two meetings, as well as Kyle Lowry. They did have Bam Adebayo back, though, and he made a big difference in how they attacked the Hawks with their offense often running through the center.

That meant early foul trouble for Onyeka Okongwu who had two in the first five minutes which brought Clint Capela in for his first action since Jan 7.

The duo combined for 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Despite the presence of both bigs, it was the Hawks smaller players that made the difference with Trae Young leading the way tallying 28 points and going 12-of-15 at the free-throw line on the night.

He also had five turnovers in the third quarter alone, though, in what was an eight-giveaway frame for Atlanta. Okongwu had two turnovers while Kevin Huerter had the other.

But, true to the theme, Huerter had 21 points and went 5-of-9 from downtown. He hit two big threes while combing with Young, who shot six free throws in the fourth quarter, to score 11 points in the final frame.

It was his first game with at least 20 points since the win over the Sacramento Kings on Jan 5.

We recently talked about how Huerter had been on a heater of late and this was just another great outing for him after a rather inconsistent start.

There were a couple of moments in particular where Young’s leadership showed best in this one. The first was a bit of a scrum for a loose ball between him and Jimmy Butler near the end of the third quarter that resulted in a tie-up and jump ball. The other came after Young was fouled and Adebayo and the Heat bench tried to let Young know he disagreed.

Young is not one to back down so neither moment came as a surprise.

It was that he didn’t lose his composure as the Heat were clearly trying to be physical with him. When that didn’t work, the Heat started a three-point assault; an effort that was almost successful with them going 6-for-10 from deep in the fourth.

They withstood that too with Jimmy Butler’s missed layup adding the cherry on top. But the Hawks did a much better job keeping it close in the paint than they did in the first two meetings.

That Miami was able to get it to within one shows the Hawks still have a lot of work to do in finishing games. But being able to hold on despite such a strong push from the opposition bodes well for them going forward.