ATLANTA (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 24 points and 18 rebounds in his first victory with the Heat, leading Miami over the Atlanta Hawks 129-117 on Wednesday night.
Bam Adebayo also had 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Heat, who lost their first four games after acquiring Antetokounmpo from Milwaukee in the offseason.
Andrew Wiggins scored 18 points and Pelle Larsson had 17 points, eight assists and six rebounds for the Heat, who shot
53% from the field and had a whopping 70 points in the paint.
Rookie Kingston Flemings and Nickeil Alexander-Walker each scored 23 points for the Hawks, who have dropped three in a row after opening the season with consecutive wins. Jalen Johnson shot just 4 for 12 and finished with 12 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds.
The Hawks were playing the first game of a home back-to-back. The start of their game against Cleveland on Thursday was pushed back an hour so that Game 6 of the WNBA Finals between Atlanta and Golden State could be played at State Farm Arena during the afternoon.
The Heat made 15 of 23 shots in the first quarter (65%) to take a 34-25 lead. They led 69-56 at halftime and took their biggest lead when Tim Hardaway Jr.'s 3-pointer made it 95-77 late in the third quarter.
Hardaway scored 14 points off the bench.
Heat: Host Indiana on Friday.
Hawks: Host Cleveland on Thursday.
___
See AP’s full NBA coverage here
