Heat fall 127-115 to Hawks amid chants of 'We want Giannis!'

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel on Feb 3, 2026

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MIAMI – Bodies were lacking and so was the inspiration.

Shorthanded yet again, not even a celebration of the team’s 2005-06 championship season could provide needed motivation as the Heat fell 127-115 Tuesday night to the Atlanta Hawks at Kaseya Center.

So 27-25 it is, with the Heat now idle through Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET NBA trade deadline.

By the third quarter, with the deficit in double digits throughout most of the night, chants began of “We want Giannis!” as if a recognition of what currently is on display simply is not good enough.

Granted, the Heat this time were without Andrew Wiggins (hamstring), Tyler Herro (ribs) and Norman Powell (personal reasons). But this also was against a Hawks team that this season already had punted on Trae Young and entered 24-27.

So while Hawks All-Star forward Jalen Johnson was going for 29 points, Heat All-Star Powell was merely a spectator on the bench, missing his third consecutive game.

The Heat got a 16-point, 14-assist double-double from Bam Adebayo, but little of overall substance, save for 21 points from Jaime Jaquez Jr., as they simply proved unable to keep up with Atlanta’s 21 of 51 3-point shooting.

Five degrees of Heat from Tuesday night’s game:

— Game flow: The Heat trailed 33-23 at the close of the opening period and 67-50 at halftime.

Unlike previous games when it had gone south for the Heat in the third period, the Heat this time clawed within seven midway through the quarter. But that is when the rally ended, with the Heat down 98-81 entering the fourth.

From there, the Heat got within 11 with 8:52 to play, but by the time 6:33 remained, the Hawks’ lead was back up to 20, sparked by guard CJ McCollum, the player acquired in the trade of Young. McCollum closed with 26 points, 6 of 9 on 3-pointers.

— Minding Myron: The Heat’s lack of available bodies had Myron Gardner in the Heat’s lineup with his second career start.

Once again the two-way player energized with his attacking style and 3-point stroke.

Based on the Heat’s roster composition, they could transition Gardner from his two-way deal to a standard contract as soon as the passing of Thursday’s trading deadline.

Gardner now has scored in double figures in three of the last four games, after doing so just once previously this season. He closed with 14 points and six rebounds.

— Another rough one: It again was a rough go for Kel’el Ware in his opening stint, the Heat outscored by 11 in his first 8:17.

In the wake of recent tough love with the 2024 first-round pick, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra this time stopped to speak with Ware as he came off the floor following that stint, with assistant coach Malik Allen also offering words to Ware as he made his way to the bench,

Ware was 1 of 6 from the field during that initial action.

It got worse from there, with the Heat down 19 when Ware left after his second stint, in the third quarter.

He closed with nine points and eight rebounds, closing during mop-up duty.

— Uneven ride: It was another uneven start for Adebayo, who opened 1 of 8 from the field.

But, as with many of his recent performances, he bounced back to close with his 20th double-double of the season.

That made it seven seasons with at least 20 double-doubles for the 2017 first-round pick, the most in the franchise’s 38 seasons. Alonzo Mourning had six such seasons, Rony Seikaly and Hassan Whiteside five apiece, Udonis Haslem four.

— Halftime commemoration: The Heat had an extended halftime commemoration to honor the 20th anniversary of the 2005-06 title team, the franchise’s first championship.

“This is the standard,” Dwyane Wade said of that team during the courtside ceremony.

Before the game, Wade said he hoped the commemoration could inspire this Heat iteration.

“We believed in each other, and we accomplished something that no one thought we could,” he said of the 2006 title team. “They will be doing the same thing. And so I hope there’s some inspiration to be pulled and I hope you want to come back and celebrate with your teammates, celebrating something that is as incredible as winning a championship.So, yes, damn right, they better be inspired.”

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