The winning streak ended with a thud Tuesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena, with Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young deciding enough was enough.
So after being stifled for seven quarters over the teams’ two-game set that opened Sunday, Young stepped up with a fourth-quarter 3-pointer. And then another. And then another.
And, with that, the Miami Heat’s six-game winning streak turned into one-game losing streak, with Erik Spoelstra’s team falling 94-80 in its final home game before the All-Star break.
A day after firing Lloyd Pierce and hiring Nate McMillan as interim coach, the Hawks, stepped up in the fourth quarter, after struggling in the quarter most of the season.
More to the point, Young stepped up, with 13 of his 18 points in the final period.
With Jimmy Butler out for a second consecutive game with a sore right knee, and with Bam Adebayo (11 points, three assists, two rebounds) with a rare off night, the Heat got 14 points apiece from Duncan Robinson and Goran Dragic and little else of substance.
The Heat closed at .373 from the field, 9 of 33 on 3-pointers.
At 17-18, the Heat conclude the first half of their season on Thursday night with a road game against the New Orleans Pelicans before a weeklong All-Star break.
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Five Degrees of Heat from Tuesday’s game:
1. Closing time: The Heat went into the fourth quarter up 66-63, after falling behind by nine early in the third.
But that’s when Young found his stroke, with his three consecutive 3-pointers staking the Hawks to an 84-74 lead with 5:16 to play, giving the Hawks their largest lead.
That led to a Heat timeout, leaving Spoelstra with one the balance of the way, the Heat at that stage out of answers.
2. Robinson reloads: After shooting 1 of 8 on 3-pointers in Sunday night’s victory over the Hawks and then 1 of 3 in Tuesday’s first half, Robinson was 3 of 5 from beyond the arc in the third quarter.
Robinson led the Heat with 14 points going into the fourth quarter, the lone Heat player in double figures to that stage.
But that’s also when the Heat offense again stopped.
3. Half empty: The Heat trailed 44-37 at halftime, the fourth-lowest-scoring combined half in the NBA this season.
No Heat player had more than six points in the first half.
The Heat were able to stay afloat with the Hawks committing 11 first-half turnovers.
4. Slow start: For the second time in as many games, Young went scoreless in the first quarter, just the sixth time that has happened this season.
Young’s first points did not come until he converted a running five-foot floater with 3:43 left in the second period. Those proved to be his only points in his 1 of 5 first half.
The Heat’s double teams on Young were constant and relentless.
Young entered 10th in the NBA in scoring, at 26.5 points per game.
5. As needed: The Heat opened 1 of 12 on 3-pointers, leading Spoelstra to go 10 deep, with Max Strus entering midway through the second period.
Strus then converted the Heat’s next 3-point attempt, after the Hawk had gone up nine.
It was Strus’ first action in four games, having last played Feb. 22 at Oklahoma City.
The Heat closed the first half 2 of 15 on 3-pointers.
