Butler's Late-Game Heroics Lead Heat To 124-118 Victory Over Hawks
MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) – Tyler Herro scored 24 points, Jimmy Butler returned from a three-game absence with a sprained ankle to add 23 and the Miami Heat rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the Atlanta Hawks 124-118 on Friday night.
Omer Yurtseven finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds to help Miami move within a game of Chicago for first place in the Eastern Conference.
P.J. Tucker scored 17 points, and Max Strus added 16 for Miami.
The Heat have won seven in a row at home.
Trae Young had 24 points for Atlanta, which rallied from 17 down early and led by 10 in the second half before letting it get away.
De'Andre Hunter scored 20 points, Danilo Gallinari added 18, John Collins 16, and Kevin Huerter 15.
Atlanta didn't have a field goal in the final 3:13.
Herro made a pair of free throws with 46 seconds left to give Miami its first lead of the second half — and when it was over, the Heat celebrated with fans sitting courtside such as Drake and golf star Brooks Koepka.
"When the game's on the line, we've got guys that step up," Butler said.
Miami led 30-13 early, then gave up 57 points in the final 16 minutes of the half. Atlanta scored 40 in the second quarter alone, becoming the first team to score that many in a quarter against the Heat this season.
The Heat lead was gone, the tone was set, and Miami played from behind the rest of the way.
Gallinari made a 3-pointer late in the half for a 65-62 lead, and the Hawks kept the lead until the final minute.
Herro made a 3-pointer to get Miami to 112-111, Lowry made a 3 on the next Heat possession and the game was tied for the first time in the second half with 3:34 remaining.
The seeds for the comeback were planted in the final seconds of the third quarter.
Atlanta was poised to take a 10-point lead into the final quarter after Gallinari made a 3-pointer to make it 99-89 with 13.7 seconds in the third.
The Heat had other ideas.
Herro made a 3-pointer with 8.5 seconds left, Dewayne Dedmon made a pair of free throws after getting fouled while jostling for a rebound with 1.9 ticks remaining — and in a span of 6.6 seconds Miami had cut a double-digit deficit in half.
And it took until the final seconds, but the Heat finished it off.
TIP-INS
Hawks: Atlanta plays host to New York on Saturday, the first game between the teams since this week's trade that sent Cam Reddish to the Knicks.
The Knicks say Reddish (ankle) won't play Saturday.
The Hawks became the first team in the last 53 Heat home games to score 70 points on Miami by halftime.
Atlanta's lead was 70-64 at the break.
Heat: Miami played 25 of its first 41 games on the road, and Friday began a stretch where the Heat will play eight out of nine at home.
Yurtseven had gauze stuffed in his left nostril to stop bleeding after taking a hit early in the first quarter and Strus got a laceration under his right eye after taking an elbow from Collins in the third quarter.
ADEBAYO CLOSE
Saturday will be the 22nd consecutive game that Miami center Bam Adebayo misses while recovering from thumb surgery.
It might be the last.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Friday that Adebayo has been doing "three-a-day workouts just because he has so much extra energy."
But Spoelstra wouldn't commit to a return Monday against Toronto, only conceding that "he'll be back soon enough."
PRETTY GOOD
The Heat (15 for 16) and the Hawks (17 for 17) combined to shoot 32 for 33 from the foul line in the first half.
That was the best combined shooting from the stripe in the first half, with that many makes, since Indiana and Detroit also went 32 for 33 in the first 24 minutes of a game on Dec. 13, 2006.
UP NEXT
Hawks: Host New York on Saturday.
Heat: Host Philadelphia on Saturday.
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