Richardson's 21, Ellington's 3s Help Heat Beat Hawks 104-93
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MIAMI (AP) — Josh Richardson scored 21 points, Wayne Ellington made six 3-pointers in the second quarter and the Miami Heat wasted a 21-point lead before recovering to beat the Atlanta Hawks 104-93 on Monday night.
Ellington scored 20 points and Goran Dragic finished with 19 for Miami, which went on a 17-6 run in the fourth quarter to help put the game away. Kelly Olynyk had 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Dion Waiters added 10 points for the Heat.
Kent Bazemore and Taurean Prince each scored 20 for the Hawks, while John Collins had 14 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for Atlanta.
The Heat started 14 for 24 from 3-point range, and then missed their final 13 tries from beyond the arc.
It was the second time Ellington made six 3-pointers in a half — both of those coming in Miami, albeit once as a member of the Brooklyn Nets. His barrage tied a Heat player record for 3-pointers in any quarter, alongside only Brian Shaw in 1993, and tied the team mark for 3s in a half. Miami's 13 first-half 3s set a franchise record, for any half.
Miami led by double digits for most of the second quarter, took an 18-point lead into halftime and stretched it to 21 when Dragic got the third quarter started with a 3-pointer.
Exactly 12 minutes later, it was tied.
The Heat had eight turnovers in the third quarter, the Hawks shot 56 percent and Marco Belinelli's right-wing jumper early in the fourth capped a 33-12 spurt by Atlanta that knotted the game at 77.
But a 7-0 lead gave the Heat a bit of control, and Richardson's layup — punctuated by a bit of yelling to the crowd — made it 91-83 with 4:25 remaining.
TIP-INS
Hawks: Bazemore scored Atlanta's first seven points, and was the only Hawk to score in the first 7:13. ... Former Heat forward Luke Babbitt made his first four shots, including a 3-pointer right in front of the Miami bench. ... Belinelli went over the 15,000-minute mark for his career.
Heat: Miami came into the game with an NBA-fewest 21 free throws made this season, and went 12 for 18 — after a 1 for 5 start. ... Out of the first 21 Heat field goals, 12 were 3-pointers. ... Tyler Johnson was 1 for 9, missing all four of his 3-point tries.
TEMPERS
Dragic got shoved in the third quarter, starting a brief exchange of players getting in each other's faces. Prince was assessed a Flagrant-1, and Dragic, Waiters and Atlanta's Dewayne Dedmon all were called for technical fouls.
HAWKS INJURIES
Atlanta was without PG Dennis Schroder (sprained left ankle) and F Ersan Ilyasova (strained left knee), both of whom started in Brooklyn on Sunday. That's on top of the Hawks already missing DeAndre' Bembry (broken right wrist) and Miles Plumlee (strained right thigh).
WHITESIDE OUT
The Heat were without C Hassan Whiteside (bruised left knee) for a second consecutive game. Whiteside has grabbed at least 10 rebounds in all seven of his appearances against the Hawks. He's listed as day-to-day.
UP NEXT
Hawks: Atlanta's season-opening five-game trip ends Thursday in Chicago.
Heat: Miami plays the third game of its six-game homestand Wednesday against San Antonio.
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