The Miami Heat defeated the struggling Atlanta Hawks, leading them into their fifth straight loss, 126-111, on Friday night.
Heat guard Norman Powell scored 25 points, Pelle Larsson added a career-high 21, Kel’el Ware with a double-double of 16 points and 13 rebounds in place of Bam Adebayo, who missed the game with a back injury.
Andrew Wiggins with 18 points, and Jamie Jaquez Jr. had 16 points off the bench.
Wiggins turned in one of the plays of the game in the fourth quarter after saving the ball along the sideline and stealing an inbound pass, with an offensive running reverse layup to stretch Miami’s lead to 102-87 with 9:05 in the last quarter.
Miami had lost eight of its previous nine games entering Friday, but went back over to 16-15, as Tyler Herro has already missed his eighth straight game due to a toe injury, while Larsson started after missing five games with a sprained left ankle.
On the other hand, Hawks superstar Trae Young dropped 30 points and seven assists, while Jalen Johnson contributed 24 points, 10 assists, and nine rebounds.
The Heat outrebounded the Hawks 52-42 and forced 21 turnovers while committing 12 that resulted in 19 more field goal attempts for them.
Atlanta fell to 5-10 at home and is the only team with a winning record on the road, 10-7, and a losing record at home.
Dyson Daniels returned for the Hawks after missing one game with right hip inflammation and contributed eight points and six rebounds.
The Heat will host the Pacers on Saturday, while the Hawks will play against New York for the back-to-back of the season.
