Hawks fall to Heat 125-99 in preseason opener

The Atlanta Hawks traveled to south Florida to open the 2021 preseason in a matchup with the Miami Heat. A few big names were missing in this one, but basketball returned nonetheless. Clint Capela (Achilles), De’Andre Hunter (knee), Kevin Huerter (ankle) and Onyeka Okongwu (shoulder) were out for Atlanta, while Jimmy Butler and Victor Oladipo were out for Miami.

The Heat got out to a hot start, going on a 12-0 run at one point in the first, but the Hawks made a run of their own to level the score and trailed by just one at 33-32 heading into the second quarter.

Reddish was active defensively, making multiple disruptive plays on that end in the opening half.

John Collins got into the action early by cleaning up a missed floater from Trae Young.

Reddish pulls of a fancy move before hitting the mid-range jumper:

The Hawks trailed the Heat 74-58 at the half. Tyler Herro scored 20 first half points for Miami, while Trae Young led Atlanta with 14 points before the break. Collins had eight points and seven rebounds in the first half.

Early in the third quarter, Young exited after some contact to his right leg. He played 18 minutes and did not return.

Miami led much of this game by double-digits, and took home the 125-99 win. Every active Hawk appeared in the game, including rookies Jalen Johnson and Sharife Cooper.

Young, Collins and Danilo Gallinari each had 14 points for Atlanta in the loss. Herro led all scorers with 26.

The Hawks will be in action from State Farm Arena Wednesday evening against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Stay tuned.