Heat rally to down Hawks

Shaquille O’Neal added 21 points and eight rebounds before fouling out for Miami, which extended their season-long winning streak to eight games. Udonis Haslem chipped in with 15 points while Jason Williams had 14 points and Antoine Walker netted 13 in the win.

"I say it all the time, he’s one of the greatest players that ever played this game,": said Atlanta coach Mike Woodson. "In this era, he’s the most dominant big man in the league. I don’t know how to stop him, it’s a nightmare."

Joe Johnson had a game-high 28 points for the Hawks, who lost for the 10th consecutive time against Miami. Josh Smith added 21 points and eight boards while Al Harrington had 14 in the loss.

Miami toiled without the services of superstar guard Dwyane Wade who sat out the contest with a sprained right wrist.

The Heat really missed the reigning NBA player of the month on the offensive end and struggled to generate scoring opportunities without Wade’s ability to break down a defense.

Atlanta raced out a 27-15 advantage after the first 12 minutes and continued to play frontrunner until intermission. The Hawks took a 48-33 edge into locker room.

Miami’s woes continued into the second half and the Heat trailed by as many as 17 points before closing the gap to 11, 73-62, as the third quarter ended.

The Hawks continued to keep Miami at arm’s length in the fourth quarter. After Johnson buried a pair from the charity stripe with 7:46 on the clock, Atlanta had a 12-point cushion, 83-71.

But the Heat staged a furious comeback and scored 13 of the game’s next 16 points. Anderson capped the flurry with the triple that brought the Heat within two, 86-84, with 4:26 remaining.

Atlanta finally responded a minute later when Smith connected on just his third trey of the year to make it 89-84.

The three managed to slow down Miami momentarily, but Haslem answered with five straight points for the Heat to deadlock things at 89 with 2:15 left.

After the two teams traded a pair of free throws, Harrington got deep on the blocks for the Hawks. His layup spun out but the forward was fouled and made two from the line to give Atlanta a precarious two-point cushion, 93-91, with 48.2 ticks left.

Fifteen seconds later, the Heat flattened the offense for Anderson, who tied the game at 93 with a beautiful turnaround jumper.

After Salim Stoudamire missed a wide-open jumper the Heat had an opportunity to win. Haslem badly missed a jumper but Anderson found himself in the right place at the right time to grab the offense rebound and find Alonzo Mourning underneath for an uncontested dunk.

The slam put Miami on top 95-93 with 1.8 seconds left.

Stoudamire’s desperation jumper came up empty at the buzzer as Miami held on.

Game Notes

Atlanta has lost eight straight and 17 of its last 18 at Miami...The Heat are an impressive 22-6 as the host this season and have won eight in a row at home...The Hawks are 7-22 on the road this season.