Hawks lose to Heat, lose Young to injury
Jimmy Butler made his first four shots and scored 21 in his Miami debut, rookie Tyler Herro scored 29, and the Heat defeated visiting Atlanta 112-97 on Tuesday night in a game where Hawks star Trae Young left early in the second quarter with a sprained right ankle.
The 19-year-old Herro had a 19-point second quarter for Miami, while fellow reserve Goran Dragic scored 21. Bam Adebayo had 17 points and 10 rebounds for Miami and Kendrick Nunn finished with 17.
Young left with 9:56 remaining in the first half, turning his ankle when he landed on the foot of Miami's Justise Winslow.
The reigning Eastern Conference player of the week said he's likely to have an MRI exam in Atlanta today, but the initial diagnosis is only a sprain and no other serious issues.
“It was painful,” Young said. “Knock on wood, I haven't had too many injuries. I've been blessed not to have too many injuries throughout my whole entire life, so that was definitely a tough pain.”
Young was eventually helped to his feet, initially unable to put much weight on that leg, and went to the Hawks locker room for further evaluation.
“They did X-rays. I don't think they saw anything,” Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce said.
John Collins scored 30 for Atlanta, including a career-best five 3-pointers, and Jabari Parker finished with 12 for the Hawks.
Butler missed the first three games of the season while celebrating the birth of his daughter Rylee. He was 5 for 11 from the floor, and went 10 for 15 from the line. As a team, Miami was 33 for 45 from the line — compared with 16 for 24 by Atlanta at the stripe.
• Dion Waiters is back with the Miami Heat, though it remains unclear when he will make his oncourt season debut. Waiters
was on the inactive list for Tuesday's game.
Waiters was suspended Oct. 19 for conduct detrimental to the team, one day after he expressed displeasure with playing time during Miami's preseason finale. Heat president Pat Riley said that was “unprofessional,” and noted it was one of multiple incidents that led to the suspension.
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