The Miami HEAT fell to the Atlanta Hawks 103-95 Wednesday night at Philips Arena. Tyler Johnson led the way for the HEAT with 27 points.
1. Career Night for Johnson
With Miami down double-digits entering the fourth quarter, Johnson answered the call to get the HEAT back in it. In fact, the 24-year-old scored 13 points, dished out an assist and came up with a steal in the period. He simply did everything in his power to try and come away victorious. A lot of Johnson's points in the fourth came from the free-throw line thanks to his aggressiveness off the dribble, but his best play during the fray occurred on the break.
With 7:29 left in the fourth, Goran Dragic blocked Mike Muscala and raced down court in transition. He then flipped it up for Johnson, who threw down the thunderous alley-oop jam over Paul Millsap.
In addition to his career-high 27 points on 8-of-16 shooting, including 4-of-5 from distance, Johnson also had five assists and two boards.
2. Dragic Sticks With It
While things weren't going his way early on in the contest, Dragic still plugged away and mixed things up offensively against Atlanta. Like Johnson, Dragic got to the rim in the fourth and did his best work in crunch time, tallying 10 points and two assists in the period. In short, the Dragon showed great mental fortitude to close out the game well. In all, the 30-year-old scored 21 points and dished out four assists.
3. McGruder Never Gives Up
As usual, Rodney McGruder laid it all on the lane against the Hawks. Whether it was getting stops in defensive transition, deflecting passes or finishing tough plays inside, he did whatever it took. McGruder even played point guard a little bit once Dragic picked up his third foul near the end of the second quarter.
One of the swingman's best plays of the night came late in the third. With 3:51 to go in the period, McGruder drove inside against Dennis Schroder from the right wing. After getting blocked initially, he stuck with it, grabbed the offensive board, absorbed contact from Schroder and finished the play.
McGruder finished with 11 points, five rebounds, five assists and a plus-five rating.
Other Takeaways:
-Wayne Ellington got off to a hot start and continued to hit catch-and-shoot jumpers on Wednesday night. His ability to stretch the floor opened things up for the rest of his teammates throughout the contest. In all, Ellington scored 19 points, grabbed three rebounds and dished out two assists.
Game Note:
-James Johnson (strained right rotator cuff), Luke Babbitt (right hip flexor), Josh Richardson (sprained right ankle), Dion Waiters (pectineus tear) and Justise Winslow (sore left wrist) all sat out.
Looking Ahead:
-The HEAT will now travel to Cleveland for a matchup with the Cavaliers on Friday at 7:30 PM. The following night, Miami will face the Bulls at 8 PM. After that tough back-to-back, the team will travel home to meet the Wizards on December 12 at 7:30 PM. Tickets for that game can be found here.
