Jimmy Butler III had 26 points and 10 rebounds, and the Miami Heat rallied from 15 points down in the first quarter to beat the Atlanta Hawks 130-128.
The Heat trailed 30-15 with 3:55 left in the first quarter. They outscored the Hawks 115-98 the rest of the way.
The Hawks had the ball down 3 with 32 seconds left, but Caleb Martin stole the ball from Trae Young. A 3-pointer would have tied the game.
During clutch time, the Heat outscored the Hawks 14-7. Butler (No. 3 in clutch points, 2022-23) scored 8 of the Heat’s 14 on 2 for 3 shooting and 4 for 4 at the line. In the fourth quarter, Bam Adebayo had 3 steals, all with the game within five points, and the Heat scored 7 points off them.
Victor Oladipo scored 22 points (10 in the fourth quarter) off the bench, and Martin added 21 points on 6 for 9 shooting off the bench. The Heat had 3 20-point scorers.
For the Hawks, Young had 25 points and 7 assists, and Dejounte Murray added 23 points (11 in the fourth quarter) and 8 assists. The Hawks had 7 players in double-digit scoring.
The Hawks outscored the Heat 70-42 in the paint. The Heat’s starters were outscored 40-29 in 12 minutes together.