Heat crush tanking Hawks.
Miami crushes Atlanta as Hawks seek lottery position
ATLANTA — The bar was low, which oddly made the stakes high.
On one side Wednesday night you had the Atlanta Hawks, who simply cannot afford to win as they race to the bottom of the standings and the top of the lottery-ball procurement process.
On the other side you had the Miami Heat, who entered the night amid the stark reality of LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers as their playoff opponent of the moment.
So the Hawks continued to hold out just about anyone you’ve ever heard of, just as they did in Tuesday night’s loss at AmericanAirlines Arena, and the Heat this time raised (lowered?) the ante by going without Goran Dragic, Dwyane Wade and James Johnson.
Against that backdrop, in a game you could arguably win by losing, the Heat refused to temper their competitive drive, pushing to a 115-86 victory at Philips Arena, their most lopsided victory of the season.
At 43-36, the Heat moved into sole possession of the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference, breaking their tie with the idle Washington Wizards and Milwaukee Bucks.
At 22-57, the Hawks might as well have been playing Ping Pong, players such as Kent Bazemore and Dennis Schroder closing their season out as spectators with all Atlanta eyes eventually on that lottery hopper.
For the moment, that leaves the current Eastern Conference playoff pairing as No. 3 Cavaliers vs. No. 6 Heat, although the Philadelphia 76ers certainly will have a say in that race for No. 3.
For the moment, that makes the No. 6 Heat’s current playoff pairing the No. 3 Cavaliers.
The Heat have three games remaining in their regular season, with this significant in that it was only their second road victory since Jan. 29, now assured of playing as a road team in the postseason.
The Heat’s road schedule concludes Friday against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, before a home game Monday against the Oklahoma City Thunder and then the season finale next Wednesday against the Toronto Raptors at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Even without Dragic, Wade and James Johnson, the Heat had more than enough against the howlow-can-you-go Hawks.
Kelly Olynyk and Josh Richardson each scored 19 for the Heat, with Justise Winslow scoring a seasonhigh 18, Rodney McGruder 14, Wayne Ellington 11 and Hassan Whiteside adding 13 rebounds.
With Dragic, Wade and James Johnson given the night off to rest nagging ailments, the Heat opened with Whiteside at center, Luke Babbitt and Richardson at forward, and McGruder and Tyler Johnson at guard.
It was the Heat’s 24th lineup of the season.
With the veterans rested, Derrick Jones Jr. and Derrick Walton Jr. both were active as their two-way contracts come to a close at the end of the regular season. Neither are eligible for the playoffs under their current contract terms.
The Heat went into the fourth quarter up 84-68, after outscoring the Hawks by double digits for the second consecutive period.
Down eight earlier, the Heat used a 17-2 secondquarter run to move to a 53-47 halftime lead, with Olynyk converting five 3-pointers in the second period.
With McGruder up to three fouls, Jones saw action in the second quarter for the Heat.
With Antonius Cleveland converting his first career basket, a 3-pointer, just before the first-quarter buzzer, the Hawks took a 29-23 lead into the second period. The Heat found themselves dealing with early foul trouble, with McGruder and Olynyk with two first-quarter fouls.
By playing 3:29 in the opening period, Olynyk eclipsed 1,700 minutes for the season, which triggered a $1 million contract bonus.
Ellington, with his third 3-pointer, later set an NBA record for most 3-pointers off the bench in a season, breaking Eric Gordon’s record of 206 last season with the Houston Rockets.
It was the fourth and final game of the season series, with the Heat moving to a 2-1 series lead with Tuesday’s 101-98 victory at AmericanAirlines Arena.
The Heat entered 3-6 in their previous nine games in Atlanta.
The Heat with the victories tied last season’s 18 road victories, now with an 11-14 record on the road against the East.
The game concluded the Heat’s 13th and final backto-back set of the season, with a 6-7 record in the second games of such pairings this season.