Bam Adebayo collected 26 points and 17 rebounds, and rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. added a season-high 20 points to lift the visiting Miami Heat to a 117-109 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday.
Adebayo made 9 of 12 shots from the floor and all eight of his attempts from the free-throw line to send the Heat to their fourth straight victory. Miami benefited from a decided 48-36 edge in points in the paint.
Jaquez played in place of injured Tyler Herro, who is sidelined for at least two weeks because of a Grade 2 ankle sprain. Jaquez made 8 of 17 shots from the floor and added four assists.
Kyle Lowrie had 17 points and Josh Richardson went 6-for-7 from the floor to finish with 16 points after going 1-for-9 for two points in the Heat’s 108-102 win at Memphis on Wednesday.
Haywood Highsmith and Duncan Robinson each scored 11 points for Miami, which shot 48.8 percent from the floor.
Miami forward Jimmy Butler sat out because of an undisclosed personal family issue. He could return to play in Sunday’s game against the host San Antonio Spurs.
Atlanta’s Trae Young collected 27 points and 11 assists, and Dejounte Murray added 23 points. Bogdan Bogdanovic finished with 15 points and joined Murray by sinking five 3-pointers for the Hawks.
Miami bolted out of the blocks, shooting 68.2 percent from the floor (15 of 22) to seize a 41-24 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Heat upped their advantage to 21 at 56-35 after Dru Smith’s layup with 4:41 remaining in the second quarter. The Hawks answered with a flourish to trim their deficit to 11 at 63-52 at halftime.
The teams each scored 30 points in the third quarter before Atlanta closed within six at 115-109 with 50.1 seconds remaining after two free throws from Young. Lowry answered with two free throws in the next possession to effectively seal the win.
–Field Level Media
