MIAMI — A Heat season that has felt like a season-long slog, with one step forward followed by one step back, now teeters on the brink of expiration.
Miami was a hot mess in the first half — falling behind by 24 — then rallied twice in the second half but ultimately succumbed to the Atlanta Hawks, 116-105, in a play-in game on Tuesday in downtown Miami.
The Heat was pounded on the glass, 63-39, repeatedly allowed second-chance points, and could never pull closer than six in the fourth quarter.
Tuesday’s result sends the Hawks to the playoffs (and a first-round series against Boston) while leaving the Heat one loss from elimination.
On Friday night, the Heat will play host to the winner of Wednesday’s Toronto-Chicago play-in game, with the loser eliminated and the winner advancing to play the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in a first-round playoff series on Sunday.
The Heat lost all three games against the Bulls this season and dropped three of four against Toronto.
Despite the best efforts of Kyle Lowry, who scored a season-high 33 points, the Heat ultimately could never fully climb out of a 63-39 first half hole.
Miami rallied furiously, outscoring Atlanta 25-7 late in the second and early in the third to close within five. A Lowry-led run in the fourth drew Miami to within six, but Miami drew no closer.
Lowry kept the Heat afloat with his best offensive game of the season, with 19 points in the first half and 14 in the fourth.
Tyler Herro scored 17 of 26 in the second half.
But the Heat, overall, wasn’t efficient enough offensively.
Jimmy Butler (21 points) missed multiple layups, shot 3 for 12 in an 11-point first half and closed 6 for 19 from the field.
Bam Adebayo (10 points) didn’t score until the Heat was down 14 in the second quarter, shot 4 for 11 and outrebounded 21-9 by Hawks center Clint Capela.
Gabe Vincent shot 2 for 6 before limping off in the fourth quarter. Max Strus was 1 for 5.
Meanwhile, Hawks guard Trae Young - who has shot just 30 percent against the Heat dating to last year’s playoff series - was fmore efficient on Tuesday, shooting 5 for 11 in the first half and closing with 25 points (8 for 18 shooting), with seven assists and five turnovers.
This was Young’s best game against the Heat in a long time, and it was needed.
The Hawks allowed the Heat to hang around by missing 11 of their first27 free throws. But Atlanta bludgeoned the Heat on the boards, including 34-22 in the first half. The Hawks scored 26 second chance points, and all felt important, including two three dunks in the fourth. Conversely, Miami scored just six second-chance points.
And three-point shooting, a Heat Achilles’ heel all season, remained problematic Tuesday; Miami shot 4 for 16 on threes in the first half and 11 for 34 for the game.
Even the Heat’s perennial hallmark, its defense, continued a disappointing two month trend for the game’s first 18 minutes.
Since the All Star break, the Heat has been the NBA’s 22nd ranked team defensively (in points allowed per 100 possessions) and the Hawks have been the league’s fourth best team offensively. That trend held up early on Monday, with the Hawks seizing on numerous Heat defensive breakdowns. Atlanta shot 63 percent in seizing a 63-39 first half lead.
The Heat closed the first half on an 11-2 run, thanks largely to 19 from Lowry, then began the third on a 14-5 run.
But after the Heat closed to within 71-66, Young hit a three and a bank shot and two free throws in the ensuing minutes, and Atlanta got a basket on an offensive rebound and a dunk in transition to close the third and went to the fourth ahead 91-78.
The Hawks went up 13 before a Lowry three pulled Miami to within 97-91. From there, Bogdan Bogdanovic dunked off a Capela rebound and Dejounte Murray hit two key baskets.
Lowry hit two threes in the next three minutes, but the Hawks responded each time with baskets.
The Heat’s struggles on threes (a problem all year) and defense (a problem since the All Star break) weren’t a shock on Tuesday.
But Butler’s poor shooting night was unexpected; he shot a career-best 53.9 percent from the field this season, including 61.6 percent from the All Star break.
Also surprising: a flood of jaw-dropping missteps in the nightmarish first half, including Martin - with nobody near him - stepping out of bounds; three missed layups from Butler; Butler losing a pass off his fingers; Herro committing two unforced turnovers; Adebayo missing two free throws and a layup.
Spoelstra - who had used only three bench players (Lowry, Kevin Love and Martin) in the two most recent games that Butler played - went 10 deep in the first half, searching for answers. But Victor Oladipo went scoreless in his nine first half minutes, and Cody Zeller logged less than a minute.
Spoelstra went to Zeller, not Love, when Adebayo rested in the second half.
The Hawks’ victory snapped the Heat’s streak of 17 consecutive home wins against division opponents. Miami entered 27-14 at home this season, including 2-0 against Atlanta.
For those already thinking ahead to the offseason, keep this in mind:
Even if the Heat loses Tuesday’s play-in game and loses a second play-in game on Friday, Miami would have just a 0.5 chance to secure the No. 1 pick (generational talent Victor Wembanyama) in the weighted draft lottery, a 0.56 chance for the second pick and a 2.41 percent chance for a top four pick. The second and third picks are expected to be Scoot Henderson (a dynamic 6-2 guard) and Alabama forward Brandon Miller.
