ATLANTA (AP)—LeBron James(notes) scored 43 points, including 23 in a dominant
third quarter, and the Miami Heat beat the Atlanta Hawks 106-85 on Friday night.
Chris Bosh(notes) had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Dwyane Wade(notes) had 14 points as
Miami rolled to the runaway win in its first visit of the season to Atlanta.
James made 16 of 21 shots, including five 3-pointers.
The Heat took the lead for good midway through the opening period and put
the game away in such convincing fashion that James and the other starters sat
out the final period.
Miami’s starters took a big lead of 32 points before turning the game over
to the backups.
Marvin Williams(notes) scored 15 points and Damien Wilkins(notes) had 14 for the Hawks,
who have lost seven of 10. Atlanta’s top scorer among its starting five was Al
Horford(notes), with only 11 points.
James had half of Miami’s points in leading the Heat to an 86-57 lead
through three periods. James then put on his warmup suit and watched the final
period from the bench.
James was 8 for 8 from the field in the first half, when he had 20 points.
He was just getting started.
The high-scoring James made eight of 13 shots from the field in his 23-point
third quarter. Incredibly, it wasn’t his most productive 12 minutes of the
season. James had 24 points in the third quarter at Cleveland on Dec. 2.
His season high is 51 points at Orlando on Feb. 3.
The Hawks went about 5 1/2 minutes without a field goal in the third period as
Miami turned the game into a rout with a procession of 3-pointers and
three-point plays.
James and Wade each had two 3-pointers in a 12-0 Miami run. James then added
a dynamic three-point play, scoring on a scoop over Jamal Crawford(notes), who was
called for the foul. James then took a long walk past the Atlanta bench, staring
at the sellout crowd of 20,024, before adding the free throw for a 73-42 lead.
The Hawks’ frustrations grew with their deficit.
James hit two free throws with 1:51 remaining in the third quarter to give
him 40 of Miami’s 80 points. He complained after he was fouled by Zaza Pachulia(notes)
late in the period. The officials then huddled and called a flagrant foul on
Pachulia. James made both free throws as Hawks coach Larry Drew complained to
the officials that they were giving James superstar treatment.
Pachulia drew a second technical with 49 seconds remaining after he was
fouled by Joel Anthony(notes) and then gave Anthony a light push on his way to the
free-throw line.
A hook shot by Josh Smith(notes) gave Atlanta a 15-10 lead with about 5 minutes
left in the opening period. Miami scored the next nine points to take the lead
and then pulled away with a 7-0 run to open the second period.
Mike Bibby(notes), making his first return to Atlanta, received a warm ovation when
he entered the game late in the opening period. Bibby was traded to Washington
on Feb. 23 in the five-player deal that sent Kirk Hinrich(notes) to Atlanta. Bibby
walked away from his contract to sign with Miami on March 2.
Bibby had two points.
Notes: Miami C Zydrunas Ilgauskas(notes) (right foot infection) was not with the
team as he missed his fourth straight game. Coach Erik Spoelstra said Ilgauskas
won’t play when Miami plays a home game against Denver on Saturday. … The
Hawks made only 4 of 10 free throws in the first half and 12 of 22 for the game.
… There were only two lead changes.
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James scores 43 as Heat pound Hawks (AP)