Hawks 98, Heat 92
MIAMI -- Behind a first-half surge and a defense that maintained the lead throughout, the Atlanta Hawks bested the Miami Heat 98-92 Tuesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.
The Hawks (4-1) earned their seventh consecutive win over their Southeast Division foe.
All-Star guard Jeff Teague led Atlanta with 26 points and nine assists. Forward/center Al Horford finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds, and forward Paul Millsap added 12 and 10.
The Hawks held the Heat to 44.2 percent shooting, though that was the best a team shot against Atlanta this season. Miami (2-2) was worse on 3-pointers, going 5-for-28 (17.9 percent).
Atlanta shot 41.1 percent from the floor.
Miami's shooting percentage was made to appear respectable thanks to center Hassan Whiteside, who led the Heat with an efficient 23 points on 11-of-12 shooting. Outside of Whiteside, Miami shot 36.4 percent.
Whiteside also grabbed 14 rebounds.
Miami guard Dwyane Wade, who went into the locker room midway through the third quarter for undisclosed reasons and returned with 4:12 remaining, finished with 21 points. For the first time this season, the All-Star missed a free throw. He had converted his first 24 attempts.
Heat guard Goran Dragic scored 19 points, and forward Chris Bosh added nine points and 14 rebounds.
The Heat cut a 14-point lead after three quarters to 79-75 with a 10-0 run to start the fourth, but the Hawks closed it out defensively and hit their free throws.
Teague was instrumental in maintaining the Hawks' first-half lead through the third quarter. He scored 11 in the period.
The Heat bench was non-existent until late in the third quarter. The first field goal from a Miami non-starter came with 2:20 remaining in the third quarter, but the bench provided the entire rally early in the fourth to pull the Heat back into the game.
A 16-2 run to start the second quarter put the Hawks ahead by double digits. Atlanta held Miami to 7-of-24 shooting from the field in the quarter and led 51-40 at halftime.
Forward Kent Bazemore led the Hawks early with eight points in the opening quarter, including a pair of corner 3-pointers. He finished with 10.
NOTES: G Mario Chalmers, who has played all eight of his NBA seasons with Miami, had his name circulate in trade rumors linking him to a potential deal with the Memphis Grizzlies. Chalmers declined to comment pregame, but coach Erik Spoelstra said, "It's an endless amount of rumors all season long for every team. We address it very early in the season and just talk about what the NBA is like, what you can expect, how to deal with the storylines and how to continue to be a professional." ... Hawks F/C Al Horford attempted 18 3-pointers in the season's first four games and fired up five in each of the previous three. He had never taken more than two in a game in previous eight seasons. Horford didn't try a 3-pointer Tuesday. ... Heat G Gerald Green and F/C Amar'e Stoudemire were inactive.