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NBA Scores: Shaquille O’Neal Leads Miami Heat Past Atlanta
Shaquille O’Neal scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while Eddie Jones added 13 and 9 boards as the Miami Heat (38-32) beat the Atlanta Hawks (27-45) 106-89 to snap a two-game losing streak.
Miami opened the game up on a 14-4 run but Atlanta was able to work its way back into the game. Esteban Batista cut the Heat lead to three on a jumper with 1:25 remaining in the first and at the end of the quarter Miami was up 28-22.
Josh Smith’s driving layup brought Atlanta even with the Heat 40-40 with 5:31 remaining in the half but Eddie Jones hit three consecutive three-pointers to give Miami a 49-44 lead. Atlanta once again worked the deficit down to one but two bad passes in the final seconds led to James Posey going to the line twice and the Heat were up 57-52 at the break.
Atlanta came out flat in the second half and could score just four points in the opening five and a half minutes as the Heat opened up a 12 point lead that the Hawks could never challenge.
Salim Stoudamire led the Hawks with 22 points while Josh Smith added 20 ina losing effort.
