The Heat get a lead going into the fourth quarter and finally found a way to close the game out against the Hawks.

The Miami Heat are now on a two-game winning streak as they beat the Atlanta Hawks, 122, 113. Before the New Year, the Heat would like to end it off on a good note. So far, so good.

Tyler Herro once again was a shining star on the court as he scored 30 points to go along with collecting seven rebounds. Heat’s Duncan Robinson was electric coming off the bench with 25 points, especially being crucial to Miami taking back the lead in the third quarter. Rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. also contributed with 19 points as he started in place of the injured Jimmy Butler.

For the Hawks, Trae Young now has six straight games scoring at least 30 points and recording 10 assists. Dejounte Murray also had 24 points and Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 23. While there was some players on Atlanta that had solid nights, it wasn’t enough to stop Miami.

Here are three takeaways as the Heat beat the Hawks Friday night:

Solid first half for Miami
Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro in front of the Kaseya Center.

It was a great start for the Heat as they opened up with a 9-0 start and built up a 12-point lead early in the game. As it might be deja vu for fans, it was dwindled towards the end of the first quarter.

However, it was a 33-point quarter for Miami that was led by Herro who had 14 points in the first 12 minutes of the game. He attempted sseven shots, five of them being deep balls, and sunk three of them. It was a much-needed start for the Heat as they are still missing Jimmy Butler with a calf injury who was also out Wednesday against the Orlando Magic.

It’s no secret that the Hawks like to score points as their offensive rating is top five in the association. Atlanta outscored Miami 34-29 in the second period as the opposing team lit it up from three-point range, shooting 50 percent.

It was mainly Bogdan Bogdanovic who had a whopping 17 points in the quarter, making five of his seven deep balls. If there is a bright side, the rookie in Jaquez contributed 11 points and was a catalyst to not giving the Hawks the lead. Entering halftime, the Heat had a two-point lead as once again, they’ll have to close out the second half.

Coming back from a sloppy start in the third quarter
A lot went wrong to start the second half as not only point guard Kyle Lowry was hurt, which a Heat spokesperson told ClutchPoints it was a right ankle injury, and sent to the locker room, but the Hawks started the period with a 13-0 run which gave them the lead. At one point, the Heat were down 11 points, but they turned it around towards the middle and end portions of the half.

Herro was absent until he went on a run to score key baskets to propel the Heat to have a quarter-changing run. The Heat would take back the lead as they entered the fourth quarter, granted it was only by two points. Where have you heard this before?

The fourth quarter was an absolute dog-fight as the Heat and Hawks were trading scores on one another. The first key sequence occurred when Duncan Robinson scored a significant 11 straight points. Herro would score a three after the explosive run which gave Miami an eight-point lead with under seven minutes left in the game. Miami would build up their lead and finally close out a game in the clutch moments.

New Years resolutions for the Heat?
The Heat are trying to close out the year of 2023 on a good note before entering the New Year. That starts Monday on Christmas Day when they take on an Eastern Conference rival in the Philadelphia 76ers. After that, Miami will finish off the year on the road with matchups across the country as they take on the Golden State Warriors and finally the Utah Jazz.

Everybody has New Years resolutions right? Well, the Heat have plenty. There have been two worrying trends for the Heat this season. The first is injuries that has been plaguing this team since last season where the regular season was up-and-down in terms of performance and inconsistent.

The exciting big three of the Heat with Butler, Adebayo, and Herro have only been in seven games of the 29 played this season. Miami is definitely working to get a healthy lineup once 2024 starts as the Heat have had 16 different starting lineups this season.

Another resolution for the Heat is to perform better in the fourth quarter. Miami has had a bad habit of building up big leads and losing them in the fourth quarter. Sometimes it ends in a win like the opener where they beat the current 2-26 Detroit Pistons, but they face explosive teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves last Monday, they lost.

While Friday was a good step in the right direction as they had a lead going into the fourth and kept it for the most part, now it’s being able to be consistent throughout the rest of the season. As said before, their next chance will be a tough one against the 76ers on Monday.