Heat run away in second half, tune up for play-in by beating Hawks 143-117
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MIAMI (AP) — Jaime Jaquez Jr. capped his sixth-man award candidacy by scoring 26 points off the bench, Bam Adebayo and Norman Powell each scored 25 and the Miami Heat tuned up for the play-in tournament by beating the Atlanta Hawks 143-117 on Sunday night.
Kel’el Ware scored 16 points for Miami, which will need to win two road play-in games to make the playoffs. The Heat pulled off that feat as the No. 10 seed entering the play-in last season.
Buddy Hield scored a game-high 31 points in just 21 minutes off the bench for Atlanta, which had a playoff spot locked up going into the game. Corey Kispert scored 21 and Asa Newell finished with 17 for the Hawks.
Miami ended the season with a team-record 9,911 points.
The Hawks — who risked falling to No. 6 in the East by sitting players, and that’s exactly what happened — decided to emphasize health and rest, so they sat Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, CJ McCollum, Jalen Johnson, Jonathan Kuminga and Onyeka Okongwu, among others.
Atlanta could have been No. 5 had it won Sunday. The Hawks will play No. 3 New York and not No. 4 Cleveland in Round 1.
“The focus for us has been on our guys going into the postseason healthy,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “And after that, we’ll figure out who we’re playing and all those things when we get to the postseason.”
Tony Bradley, a recent acquisition for Atlanta, made his first Hawks start. Kispert made his eighth of the season, Keaton Wallace made his third and Newell made his second.
Atlanta finished 46-36, its best record since going 48-34 in 2015-16. Miami finished 43-39, ending the regular season at .500 or better for the 15th time in Erik Spoelstra’s 18 seasons as head coach.
Up next
Hawks: Will open East Round 1 series at New York this weekend.
Heat: Visit Charlotte in a play-in game Tuesday.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba