• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Heat-Hawks Preview

Dec 14, 2015 - 3:58 AM While the Atlanta Hawks haven't come close to their lofty expectations, the Miami Heat aren't far removed from their championship years yet are stuck in a similar rut.

The Hawks seek their eighth consecutive victory against the visiting Heat on Monday night with Miami trying to build off a surprising comeback win a day earlier.

After losing nine in a row in the series, the Hawks turned it around and have won the previous four matchups in Atlanta. They extended the run with a 98-92 victory at Miami on Nov. 3 - their fourth on a seven-game win streak following a season-opening loss.

Things have since dropped off considerably. Atlanta (14-11) has struggled to a 7-10 record since the streak while failing to find balance on offense, a trait that helped the club to an Eastern Conference-best 60 wins last season.

Consecutive wins over the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas seemed to signal a possible turnaround, but the Hawks followed with back-to-back losses. Saturday's miserable effort resulted in a 103-78 defeat against San Antonio in the opener of a three-game homestand.

Atlanta scored 25 points in the first half, marking the fewest this season for any team in any half. The previous low was Houston's 26 second-half points Nov. 1 at Miami.

It was also the Hawks' worst first-half total since scoring 20 at Chicago on Jan. 14, 2013. They shot 37.5 percent in the game and made just 5 of 24 attempts from 3-point range while committing 17 turnovers.

"It was tough," said Paul Millsap, who was the only Atlanta player to score in double figures with 22 points. "I felt like we overthought everything on offense. ... We got caught into their game and nothing good happened with that."

Jeff Teague scored a season-high 26 points in the first matchup against the Heat, but he finished with a season-low four while missing all five shots against the Spurs. Al Horford scored just nine points for the second consecutive game.

Atlanta is 8-5 at Philips Arena but has lost two of its last three there.

Miami (13-9) is 2-5 away from home while averaging just 88.1 points. It seemed as if the Heat would lose their fourth consecutive game Sunday, but they rallied from a 16-point deficit for a 100-97 win over Memphis.

The Grizzlies led by eight in the final three minutes, but Dwyane Wade's jumper with 21.9 seconds left gave Miami its only lead of the second half as part of an 11-0 run.

Wade was just 5 of 14 before converting on a driving layup and then hitting a 19-foot jumper that bounced high off the rim in the final minute. He finished with 14 points.

"Dwyane's uncanny," coach Erik Spoelstra said. "He can play absolutely horrible stretches of basketball and have the quickest memory, and all of a sudden get to the last 2 minutes and he has incredible confidence. ... Sometimes when you don't know where to go, that's always a great option, having a Hall of Famer."

Hassan Whiteside dominated the Hawks the first time around with 23 points on 11-of-12 shooting and 14 rebounds, but he has failed to score in double digits in his last three games while still shooting a solid 11 of 14. In two career games against Atlanta, Whiteside is 17 of 20 from the floor while grabbing 38 rebounds.

Tyler Johnson (shoulder strain) and Josh McRoberts (bone bruise in knee) sat out against Memphis but will be evaluated prior to Monday's game.