Takeaways from Miami Heat’s Victory over the Hawks

After a gut-wrenching loss on Friday, the Miami Heat had another game less than 24 hours later. The Heat took on the Atlanta Hawks, who entered Saturday’s game a half-game behind Miami. This was an important game for Miami and their playoff hopes. Miami came out with more energy and intensity early on. They pushed the league to 21 points at one point. However, like most Heat games, the game somehow ended up being close in the 4th quarter. But in the end, Miami made plays and closed with a victory. With the win, Miami moves to 34-31 for the season. Here are my takeaways from Saturday’s win over Atlanta.

Bam Bounce Back

Since the all-star break, Bam Adebayo has been struggling. He didn’t look like the Adebayo we’ve seen throughout the regular season. On Saturday, we saw All-Star. Miami looked for their big man in this one. They ran multiple pick and rolls with Tyler Herro and Adebayo. Adebayo also was in attack mode on the fast break. After every rebound, Adebayo was either looking for the pitch-ahead pass or taking it to the rack himself. Once he got the inside buckets going, his jumpers were falling next. We saw how his early inside game opened up the midrange game, which has been his go-to throughout the season. Most importantly, the Heat were running offensive sets to get him going. Adebayo finished the night with 30 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, and two blocks.

Change in Substitution Patterns

The Non-Adebayo and Jimmy Butler minutes have been problematic for the Heat the last couple of weeks. It’s played a huge role in opponents going on huge runs. The Herro and bench unit has struggled on both ends of the floor. Against the Hawks, Miami made a switch to its substitution patterns. Adebayo exited early in the game, with Herro following him soon after. This had Butler playing mostly with the second unit. There was also a two-minute span where neither Butler nor Adebayo played. But that was okay with it only being two minutes. At the start of the second quarter, Adebayo and Herro were back in. It’s been clear that adjustments were needed, and the Heat finally responded with one.

Zeller’s First Half

Since coming to Miami, Cody Zeller has been one of the few positives with the team. He’s been providing solid backup minutes at the center position. He did the same and more on Saturday. Zeller was active on both ends of the floor with his activity. On one play, he sprinted full court for the fast break layup. Anytime there was a missed shot, he crashed the boards. If the offense got stagnant, Zeller would find the open space for the bucket. At one point, he was the leading scorer for Miami in the first half. All season long, Miami has looked for players that can play at least 10-12 minutes behind Adebayo. So far, Zeller has done that. This is exactly what you look for in a backup big. Zeller finished the night with 13 points.

Finally, A Win

Despite being a regular season game, this victory was important for Miami. Losing this game would’ve been demoralizing for the Heat. Especially after coming off two disappointing performances. Another thing to keep in mind is that Atlanta was only a half-game back. So, it was clear a win was needed. Now Miami is a game and a half ahead of the Hawks. If they beat the Hawks again on Monday, they could still gain ground on the sixth seed. That’s the number one goal the rest of the way. Avoid the play-in tournament and facing the Eastern Conference’s top two seeded teams in the first round. With that being said, we’ll see how Miami responds in their last 18 games of the regular season.

Next up: The Atlanta Hawks. Game tips off at 7:30 pm eastern.