Depleted Hawks edge erratic Heat

MIAMI – Paul Millsap scored 22 points, Dennis Schroder added 16 points and 10 assists and the intentionally depleted Atlanta Hawks still had enough to beat the Miami Heat, 93-91, on Saturday night.

Kent Bazemore scored 15, including a big 3-pointer with about a minute left to give the Hawks an 89-80 lead. John Jenkins scored 12 for Atlanta, which turned 23 Miami turnovers into 31 points.

Dwyane Wade scored 22 points for Miami, which fell to 10-17 at home and still remains in the No. 7 spot in the Eastern Conference race. Hassan Whiteside finished with 14 points and tied a season high with 24 rebounds for Miami, which also got 16 points from Mario Chalmers and 10 from Henry Walker.

It was the second straight night Miami lost by exactly two points, after falling in New Orleans, 104-102, on Friday.

The Hawks rested four regulars – Al Horford didn’t even make the trip because his wife just had a baby, while  Pero Antic, DeMarre Carroll and Jeff Teague were all given the night off.

‘’Just working our way through the season,’’ Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said, ‘’and trying to keep us in a good place health-wise.’’

Such are the luxuries afforded to teams with a nine-game lead in the Eastern Conference standings coming into the night.

And even though the rotations were different, the Hawks still looked to have a defense that was airtight. Miami missed 15 consecutive shots during one 10-minute stretch of the first half – with four turnovers in there as well – and Atlanta looked like it could do no wrong.

By halftime, the Hawks led 43-33, the Heat having more turnovers (14) than baskets (12). Atlanta then came out and scored the first eight of the third quarter, stretching the lead to 18 and looking completely poised for a runaway.

The Heat had other ideas.

Slowly chipping away, Miami went on a 29-14 spurt over the next 11 minutes, getting within 65-62 when Goran Dragic made a pair of free throws with 9:58 left.

But they would get no closer.

In Dallas, Deron Williams scored 25 points, Thaddeus Young had 16 points and eight rebounds off the bench and the Brooklyn Nets topped the Dallas Mavericks, 104-94.

The victory completed a 3-5 road trip for the Nets, who moved into eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 20 points and Devin Harris had 14 for Dallas, which dropped percentage points behind the Los Angeles Clippers into sixth place in the Western Conference.

The Mavericks played their second consecutive game without Tyson Chandler (bruised left hip) and fourth straight without Chandler Parsons (sprained left ankle). That resulted in a three-guard starting lineup with J.J. Barea joining Monta Ellis and Rajon Rondo with Nowitzki making a rare start at center.

Dallas, which entered ranked fourth in the NBA averaging 105.5 points, was limited to double-digit points for the fourth consecutive game for the first time this season.

The 25 points for Williams, who played his high school ball at The Colony High near Dallas, was his second-highest total this season. He shot 9 for 14 overall and shot 4-of-6 on 3-pointers after coming in hitting only one of his last 22 attempts behind the arc.

Mason Plumlee added 14 points, 10 rebounds and a season-high three blocks for Brooklyn.

In other results, Washington held off Detroit, 99-95; New York beat Toronto, 103-98; Memphis thwarted Minnesota, 101-97; San Antonio crushed Phoenix, 101-74; and Utah downed Milwaukee, 82-75.