Hawks had no answer when Wade had help
MIAMI (AP) – Udonis Haslem has played alongside Dwyane Wade for six years, and still hasn’t seen everything in his Miami Heat teammate’s arsenal.
“He’s going to do something at some point in the game that’s going to make you pause and say, ‘Did he really do that?'” Haslem said.
In Atlanta Wednesday night, Wade had more of those moments. A whole slew of them, on the way to a 33-point effort that sealed Miami’s 108-93 series-tying win.
The Hawks know Wade will get his points, but when Game 3 rolls around Saturday in Miami, Atlanta’s emphasis will be on slowing Wade’s supporting cast.
“One man can’t win a game,” Hawks guard Joe Johnson said Thursday. “With his 33, it wouldn’t have mattered, it wouldn’t have hurt us if Jermaine O’Neal and (Daequan Cook) wouldn’t have had the big games they had.”
Cook shook out of a weeks-long slump to score 20 points, going 6-of-9 from three-point range. O’Neal scored 19 points, his most in more than a month. Haslem hit two clutch jumpers in the final minutes when Wade was on the bench with five fouls. Magloire played 11 minutes, didn’t take a shot and set the screen that freed Cook for his crucial first made shot of the night.
Totally different from Game 1, in other words, when the Heat got walloped 90-64.
“It’s going to take a collective effort,” Haslem said. “Obviously, we understand that Dwyane’s going to do his part. We’re going to need other guys to step up.”
So now it’s the Hawks who’ll carry a sense of urgency, knowing they must eventually win on Miami’s home floor if they want to reach the second round and a possible matchup with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Atlanta is 3-22 in road games against the Heat since the start of the 1996-97 season, but two of those wins came in the last two years.
“We’ve just got to stay focused,” Johnson said. “It’s a long series. We can’t get down on ourselves. We’ve got to stay focused, go to Miami and try to be the aggressor.”
A year ago, the Hawks lost a first-round series to the Boston Celtics and their “Big 3” of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.
The Heat have a “Big 3” as well: Wade, TBA and TBA.
He’s the lone constant in Miami’s game plan. Some nights, it’s Mario Chalmers and Michael Beasley helping out. Wednesday, it was O’Neal and Cook carrying much of the scoring load. It is maddening for the Heat, but also has been difficult for opponents to figure out.
Wade and the Heat know the Hawks will throw a different look their way Saturday, but being at home – where Wade is 23-6 in his postseason career – should give Miami another boost as well.
Magic don’t fear road: By splitting the first two games in Orlando, the Philadelphia 76ers grabbed the home-court edge in their first-round playoff series against the Magic.
Don’t be too quick to call it an advantage.
Orlando tied Cleveland and Boston for the second-best road record in the NBA this season at 27-14, just two games behind the Lakers. The Magic played better on the road than the Sixers did at home (24-17).
Orlando also won both meetings in Philadelphia.
So while the Sixers certainly got Orlando’s attention with a 100-98 victory in Game 1, the third-seeded Magic struck a tone of respect and determination after evening the best-of-seven Eastern Conference series with a 96-87 win in Game 2 Wednesday.
Philadelphia, seeded sixth, hosts Game 3 at 8 p.m. Friday.
“It’s going to be tough,” Orlando forward Dwight Howard said. “Philly’s been playing great basketball at home. They’ve been playing great all series. We just have to weather the storm, knowing that they’re going to be amped up. We just have to find ways to win.”