Suddenly Heat are hot, make it three in row with 122-112 win over Hawks behind Herro's 36

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel on Mar 27, 2025

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MIAMI — There was a time when winning was challenging for Erik Spoelstra’s team.

As in last week. And the week before. And the week before that.

Now, the sweet smell of success, with the Miami Heat extending their winning streak to three with Thursday night’s 122-112 decision over the Atlanta Hawks at Kaseya Center.

No, not the drama of Tuesday night’s victory over Jimmy Butler at the Golden State Warriors, and, no, no tangible relief in the standings, still at No. 10 in the East.

But now the sense that the worst is behind, even with a few more typically frantic Heat moments after going up 21 in the third period.

While Tyler Herro seized control of the Heat offense with 36 points, there was ample support, including 12 points and 10 rebounds from Bam Adebayo, and 16 points apiece from Andrew Wiggins and Davion Mitchell.

That was enough to offset 29 from the Hawks’ Trae Young, as the Heat, behind Thursday night’s 18-of-33 3-point shooting, closed out a 3-2 homestand

Five Degrees of Heat from Thursday night’s game:

— 1. Closing time: The Hawks led 32-22 at the end of the opening period, before the Heat moved to a 60-55 halftime lead.

The Heat then moved ahead by 21 in the third, saw the Hawks claw back within eight, before the Heat went into the fourth up 93-80.

The Hawks then quickly clawed within six early in the fourth, only to see the Heat respond with a 3-point play from Herro and a transition 3-pointer from Haywood Highsmith.

But with Young draining a 3-pointer with 2:45 to play, the Hawks drew within 114-109.

That, however, is when Herro stepped up with his fourth 3-pointer.

— 2. Back in groove: With the Heat largely healthy, particularly with Wiggins available,

Herro continued to work in a groove of not being the only primary win scoring option.

That had him again getting back to his comfort zones at the rim and at the 3-point line.

With his third 3-pointer, Herro now has the third-highest season total in franchise history, behind only the 270 of Duncan Robinson in 2019-20 and the 250 of Robinson in 2020-21. Herro’s third gave him 233 for the season.

He closed 13 of 17 from the field, 4 of 6 from behind the arc.

— 3. The big deal: The Heat’s dual starting big men both took care of business on the boards, with Adebayo and Kel’el Ware playing the Hawks to a standoff in that facet.

Ware closed with 12 rebounds and seven points.

Spoelstra also again mixed Kyle Anderson into his power mix, able to buy time for rest for Adebayo and Ware.

— 4. Dual defenders: Spoelstra continues to play Mitchell and Highsmith in tandem as defensive energizers, again inserting them together as the Heat’s first two substitutes.

Mitchell offered the added bonus of 10 first-half points and three first-half assists, and kept going from there.

Mitchell closed 4 of 5 on 3-pointers, Highsmith 3 of 4.

With Highsmith again entrenched in the rotation, it again had Terry Rozier and Jaime Jaquez Jr. shuffled out of the mix.

— 5. On the road: With their five-game homestand complete, the Heat next head out for three in a row on the road, starting Saturday night against the Philadelphia 76ers, continuing Monday against the Washington Wizards and concluding Wednesday against the Boston Celtics.

The Heat are 13-22 on the road, heading back out on a five-game road losing streak.