The Heat clinched the No. 2 seed in the East Monday, but had to work a lot harder than they wanted to in a 98-90 win in Atlanta in which they toyed with the Hawks for the better part of three quarters Monday before a strange thing happened: Miami -- LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh included -- couldn't handle Atlanta's zone or bench. Hawks coach Larry Drew did not play his starters for one second in the fourth quarter as Atlanta roared back from a 20-point deficit to tie the game with 3:28 left on Jamal Crawford's technical free throw.
Atlanta's bench outscored Miami's bench 44-14, and James and Wade were 1-2 among all scorers with 34 and 21 points, respectively. Yet the key to the game came when James Jones -- a Miami sub -- hit back-to-back three-pointers with a foul shot in between after the game was tied.
Meanwhile, the Dallas Mavericks leapfrogged the Lakers thanks to a victory over the Houston Rockets. Kevin Martin’s 28 points was not enough as Dirk Nowitzki led his team with a double double of 23 points and 12 rebounds.