Heat 116 - 109 Hawks
Final - 3OT
  for this game

James, Wade watch Heat down Hawks in 3OT

Jan 6, 2012 - 5:51 AM Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - Wearing street clothes, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade cheered their Miami Heat teammates from the bench.

For almost four hours.

Chris Bosh scored 33, including a game-tying three-pointer at the end of regulation, and Miami beat the Atlanta Hawks 116-109 in triple-overtime Thursday night with two of their top three stars sidelined by injuries.

The Heat, who lost their first game of the season to Atlanta on Monday with all three stars in the lineup, held the Hawks scoreless in the third overtime to avoid another setback.

"A gutty team win with a capital 'T,' a capital 'E,' a capital 'A' and a capital 'M,'" said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. "Those guys should all be proud of the effort they put in."

Bosh had 14 rebounds, one of four players with a double-double in a game that started at 8 p.m. (et) and ended just shy of midnight. Mario Chalmers scored 22 of his 29 points from the fourth quarter on and the Heat improved to 7-1.

The Hawks, led by Joe Johnson's 20 points, got back into the game with a 16-1 run to end the third quarter. But Johnson was blocked by Shane Battier on a driving layup at the end of the second overtime, and they went 0-for-7 in the third OT.

Josh Smith added 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Al Horford scored 10 with 11 boards for Atlanta. Udonis Haslem had a double-double off the bench for Miami with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

James sat out with a sprained left ankle and Wade was sidelined by a bruised left foot.

So the Heat turned to Bosh, who buried a fall-away three-pointer from the right side to tie the game at 93-93 in the final second of regulation.

The Hawks had led by as many as five points in the quarter despite going just 8-of-15 from the foul line. That area of the game was a problem all night, and Atlanta was just 31-for-46 on free throws.

Still, the Hawks were able to tie the game near the end of the first overtime on Smith's long two-point shot from the right wing. Chalmers missed a three at the buzzer, but had four points in each of the first two overtime periods to lead the Heat.

In the second OT, the Hawks took a 109-107 lead on back-to-back tip-ins by Horford and Marvin Williams. Chalmers tied it on two free throws and Atlanta got the ball back with 23.9 seconds left.

Johnson held for the shot off the inbounds, then drove down the lane but was blocked by Battier, who guarded him close all the way down and knocked the ball off the backboard.

Atlanta was unable to get a shot off following a jump ball with 3.2 seconds left, and Chalmers' three-pointer 1:14 into the third overtime counted as the winning bucket. He had five of Miami's seven points in the period.

"It was just a team that came in here and was hungry," Johnson said of the Heat. "Whether we relaxed because they had a few guys out is something we can't worry about. I don't think we got off to the start we would have liked to -- kinda got down a little bit, but was able to get back in the game."

The Heat led 22-19 after the first quarter and 54-49 at halftime. They were up as many as 13 points in the third quarter, but the Hawks used their 16-1 run to erase a 67-54 deficit and take a 70-68 lead into the fourth.

Game Notes

It was the 10th time in NBA history a team failed to score in an overtime period and the first time in Hawks franchise history...Miami has won seven of the last nine meetings...The Heat started a five-game road trip that also includes games at New Jersey, Golden State, the Los Angeles Clippers and Denver...Johnson played a game-high 49 minutes and 13 seconds for Atlanta.






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