The Miami Heat will be visiting the Atlanta Hawks in Phillips Arena tonight. It's the second of four meetings this season between the Southeastern Division rivals, and the first of two games they will play in Atlanta. For the Heat, This is the first game of a five game roadtrip. They will go on to face the New Jersey Nets on Saturday, the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday and the Denver Nuggets next Friday before returning home for a five game homestand. The Hawks have finished up a three game road trip in which they lost to the Houston Rockets 95-84 on Saturday. They then went on to beat the Heat, 100-92 on Monday before losing to the Chicago Bulls 76-74 on Tuesday night. They play the Heat then go on the road to face the Charlotte Bobcats tomorrow night.
The Southeast division rivals last met on Monday, with Atlanta handing Miami a 100-92 loss at the AAA in Miami. LeBron James scored 28 to lead five Miami players in double figures and Dwyane Wade dished out 10 assists for the Heat. Joe Johnson led four Atlanta Hawks in double figures with 21 points.
NBA Atlanta Hawks Vs Miami Heat Game Recap 01/02/2012 (via NBAHiighlights)
Miami faced the Pacers last night at the AAA in Miami, handing the Pacers a 118-83 shellacking. Dwyane Wade took the night off with a sore foot. LeBron James scored 33 points and handed out 13 assists with eight rebounds to lead Miami. Chris Bosh scored 22 and Udonis Haslem grabbed 10 boards for Miami.
Indiana vs Miami NBA Highlights 01/04/2012 (via bballfansite)
The Hawks lost to the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday evening, 76-74. Al Horford led the Hawks with 16 points and Josh Smith added 15 with 14 rebounds for Atlanta. Derrick Rose scored 30 for the Bulls.
Atlanta vs Chicago NBA Highlights 01/03/2012 (via bballfansite)
All-Time Series: 48-40
Game Time: 8:00 EST
Season Series: 0-1
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Standings:
Miami Heat: 6-1, first in the Southeast Division, tied for first with the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference and in the NBA.
Atlanta Hawks: 4-2, third in the Southeast Division, tied for fourth in the Eastern Conference, and tied for sixth in the NBA.
Probable Starters:
Miami Heat:
PG - Mario Chalmers
SG - James Jones
SF - LeBron James
PF - Chris Bosh
C - Joel Anthony
Atlanta Hawks:
PG - Jeff Teague
SG - Joe Johnson
SF - Marvin Williams
PF - Josh Smith
C - Al Horford
Common Thread:
Atlanta guard Jerry Stackhouse spent last season with the Heat, scoring 12 total points in seven games.
Team Milestones:
James Jones needs six more three-pointers to pass Jamal Mashburn for 14th on the All-Time list with 211.
Seven more assists will Udonis Haslem at 574, passing Rony Seikaly into 19th.
11 more assists will move LeBron James into 17th, past Jamal Mashburn with 617.
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Team Leaders:
PPG:
LeBron James, 29.9
Chris Bosh, 18.9
Dwyane Wade,18.8
RPG:
Udonis Haslem,10.0
Chris Bosh, 7.9
LeBron James, 7.7
APG:
LeBron James, 7.4
Dwyane Wade, 6.5
Mario Chalmers, 3.9
SPG:
LeBron James, 2.0
Mario Chalmers, 1.7
Norris Cole, 1.6
BPG:
Dwyane Wade, 2.0
LeBron James, 0.9
Chris Bosh, Joel Anthony, Shane Battier 0.7