Dejounte Murray Does it Again! Hawks Guard Nails Second Straight Game-Winning Shot, Hawks Defeat Heat on the Road

Atlanta has now won three games in a row and is 18-23

Having one buzzer beater in a season is quite an accomplishment. Having two is pretty crazy. 

Having a buzzer in back-to-back games? That does not happen often, but that is what happened when Dejounte Murray hit his second buzzer in as many games and the Hawks got an impressive win on the road against the Miami Heat. Atlanta was without star point guard Trae Young for this game and were big underdogs in the game against a mostly healthy Miami Heat team. 

Miami has been an Achilles Heel for the Hawks for the past few seasons, but the Hawks battled tonight to get a much-needed win. 

Atlanta closed as an 11.5-point underdog at most sportsbooks. The starting five without Young was Bogdan Bogdanovic (who has been the starter when Young has had to miss games), Murray, Saddiq Bey, Jalen Johnson, and Clint Capela. 

Miami started Caleb Martin, Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, Nikola Jovic, and Bam Adebayo. 

It was hard to imagine a much better start for the Hawks than the one they had tonight vs Miami. Without Young, Atlanta was going to have to rely on Murray and Bogdanovic to carry the offense and be threats from the perimeter and that was what happened at the start. 

Murray had nine first-quarter points and the Hawks hit five three-pointers in the first quarter and the Hawks raced out to a 32-24 lead, which was surprising. 

Hawks Dejounte Murray / Jordan Godfree-USA TODAY Sports

In the second quarter, things tightened up, and Miami started to come alive on offense and a lot of that had to do with Duncan Robinson. Robinson had 11 points in the quarter and Miami shot 55%. Atlanta did not play poorly, but the Heat were shooting the ball well and cut the lead to one going into the half. 

Atlanta was shooting 47.8% from the field at the half and 42.1% from three. Murray had 15 points and five assists. 

Miami shot 44.7% from the field and 42.1% from three in the first half. Butler had 13 points, Herro had 10 and Robinson had 14. 

Miami jumped all over Atlanta to start the third quarter. The Heat got off to an 8-2 start and the Hawks trailed all of a sudden. They recovered, like they did all game, and only trailed by two going into the final quarter. 

With about 5:29 left, Heat guard Josh Richardson drew a foul and had a chance for a three-point play to push the Heat's lead to five. It looked like the Heat were starting to pull away. 

But the Hawks answered with a 6-0 run and Atlanta grabbed the lead 98-97. 

Going into the final two minutes of the game, you knew the ball was going to be in the hands of Jimmy Butler and that is what happened. 

With under a minute left, the Hawks trailed by three, but Clint Capela was fouled and had a chance to cut it to one. Capela is not known to be a good free-throw shooter, but he has been solid this year and hit both. Atlanta trailed 105-104. 

The Hawks needed a stop on defense and it looked like they were going to get one. The shot clock was winding down and the ball was in Butler's hands, but he swung it out to Tyler Herro and he nailed a three as the shot clock went down and Miami went back up by four and yet again, it looked like the Hawks were done. 

On the next possession, Bogdanovic drew a foul and went to the line for two. He hit both and there were 30 seconds left. Atlanta did not have to foul and could let the game play out. Herro missed a shot and Murray grabbed the rebound and raced down the court and did this: 

MURRAY MAGIC FOR THE WIN

THE SEQUEL pic.twitter.com/VaO5PNAOKq

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 20, 2024

The Hawks won the game, took home their third straight win, and moved their record to 18-23. 

The Hawks shot 46% for the game and 42.9% from three. Murray finished with 22 points and Jalen Johnson had 15 points and seven rebounds. 

Miami shot 46.3% from the field and 38.7% from three. Butler and Herro each had 25 points and Adebayo had 21 points, nine rebounds, and six assists. 

The Hawks are going to be back on the court tomorrow night with a matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

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