Depleted Heat can’t keep up with Hawks
The Heat, which played without Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry and eight others, was blown out by the Hawks in a preseason game.
The Heat didn’t have Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry and eight others for Thursday night’s preseason game. The result: The Heat’s first loss of the preseason.
The Heat fell to the Hawks, which played most of their regulars, 127-92 at State Farm Arena. Miami opened the preseason with four consecutive wins before the defeat.
It was an uphill battle for the Heat from the start with just nine available players. Adebayo,
Butler, Dewayne Dedmon, Marcus Garrett, Tyler Herro, Lowry, Markieff Morris, Victor Oladipo, Duncan Robinson, P.J. Tucker and Omer Yurtseven all remained in Miami for the front end of the preseason back-toback and missed the game
That left the Heat with a roster of Udonis Haslem, Caleb Martin, KZ Okpala, Micah Potter, Javonte Smart, Dru
Smith, D.J. Stewart, Max Strus and Gabe Vincent against the Hawks. Miami started Vincent, Martin, Strus, Okpala and Haslem.
The Hawks didn’t let the depleted Heat hang around, entering the second quarter with a 33-17 lead. By halftime, that advantage had grown to 24 points.
Haslem, 41, finished with one point, four rebounds, three assists and two blocks in 13 minutes. The Heat’s leading scorer was undrafted guard Javonte Smart.
He ended the night with 20 points on 8-of-16
shooting and five rebounds.
The Hawks were led by star guard Trae Young, who finished with 27 points and 15 assists.
He’s the first player with 25 points and 15 assists in a preseason game since James Harden did it in 2016, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
The Heat (4-1) now returns home to close its six-game preseason schedule on Friday against the Boston Celtics at FTX Arena (6:30 p.m., ESPN2) on the second night of a back-to-back.