Hawks Snap Streak

The Miami Heat opened its match-up against the Atlanta Hawks on an 11-0 run, but seemingly did not have anything left as the Hawks cruised to an 87-73 win to snap Miami's four-game winning streak.

During Miami's 11-0 run to open the game, Shawn Marion had four points, Mario Chalmers hit a three, Udonis Haslem hit a jumper and Dwyane Wade capped it off with a jump-shot with eight minutes and 32 seconds left in the first period. That run was the complete opposite of what the Heat did the rest of the game. Marion's ugly shooting mechanic cost him a few easy shots in the paint, Haslem missed his open jumpers, Chalmers was riddled with foul trouble and Wade did not bail out Miami in the fourth quarter.

The Hawks closed to within five points by the end of the first quarter and had a 43-40 lead at intermission. In the third quarter, it seemed as if Atlanta was getting everything it wanted while the Heat could not buy a bucket. The only two players that shot above 50 percent from the field for Miami were Marion (five-for-nine shooting) and reserve center Jamaal Magloire (one-for-one shooting). Unfortunately, neither of the two stepped up to make this game even remotely competitive in the second half.

Miami's second leading scorer, Michael Beasley, had the flu and did not play tonight. His presence could have made a difference against the Hawks. Beasley is the only player on the Heat who can create his own shot whose last name is not Wade. As bad as this game looked, the Hawks did not play particularly well. Atlanta shot just 38 percent from the field. Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby shot a combined 12-for-33 from the field. The reason why the Atlanta won is because it made 32 trips to the free-throw line and out-rebounded Miami 53-37.

Beasley has had rough nights, but the Heat has still managed to pull a way with a victory. In that case, Wade would have a great game or Daequan Cook would have a nice shooting night from the field. Tonight, Wade shot a miserable 9-for-24 and made it to the free throw line just six times. Wade settled for too many jumpers, and with three days off leading into tonight's game, there is no excuse for settling. Cook, meanwhile, shot 5-for-14 from the field and committed five fouls in 30 minutes off of the bench.

Despite the rough night for Bibby, Miami's point guard rotation looked untested earlier tonight. Mario Chalmers got into early foul trouble and the Hawks took Chris Quinn apart on defense. Coach Erik Spoelstra decided to go with the longer, more athletic Marcus Banks. Banks could have done a lot more in his garbage minutes. The most experienced point guard on Miami's roster looked disinterested in playing defense and was non-existent offensively.

With the lack of slashes from Wade, Miami was purely a jump-shooting team earlier tonight. That is the problem when Spoelstra does not have a post presence to go to. And when you have a jump-shooting team, your team is going to be inconsistent. Against Atlanta, it seemed as though Wade made a domino effect on the rest of the team: he shot poorly, and so did everyone else.

Jamaal Magloire was active on the glass, with five rebounds in 13 minutes. In his last two games, Joel Anthony has had a combined one block. I know it is premature to label Anthony in a slump, but I am not completely sold on Anthony. Spoelstra knows how Miami's rebounding has cost them a few games, and may be willing to give more minutes to the 6-foot-11 Magloire rather than the 6-foot-9 Anthony. Spoelstra should still start Anthony, but the door is wide open for Magloire.

Nonetheless, the need for a post presence was highlighted tonight. Beasley drives to the rim and Wade drives to the rim, but Miami still needs that post presence who can get them those high-percentage shots consistently. As I said, when you are a jump-shooting team, you will be inconsistent. Throughout this season, Miami has been.

The Heat will fly to Memphis, Tenn., to face the Grizzlies Monday. The availability of Beasley against Memphis is unknown.