Oladipo and Adebayo come up big as Miami Heat outlast Atlanta Hawks

The Miami Heat recorded a 130-128 victory against the Atlanta Hawks in an NBA fixture played in the early hours of Tuesday, March 7, 2023.

In a rematch of the game last week, the Miami Heat had to come from behind to get the win in the Eastern Conference match-up.

The Hawks started off with an aggressive explosion and put up 43 points to take a 13 point lead.

The Heat bounced back to take a second quarter by eight points as the Hawks took a five-point lead to the halftime break.

In a back-and-forth third quarter, the Heat were able to close the gap down to four points.

The Heat produced a 38-point final quarter outscoring the Hawks to win the game by two points.

The Heat with massive Nigerian representation came up big in the victory against the Hawks.

Nigerian-American professional basketball player Gabriel Nnamdi Vincent retained his spot in the starting lineup.

In 24 minutes of action, Vincent produced eight points, two rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

American professional basketball player of Nigerian descent Femi Bam Adebayo featured for 37 minutes in the game.

He contributed 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists, three steals, and one block.

American professional basketball player of Nigerian descent Victor Oladipo was the star performer for the Heat against the Hawks.

Oladipo was named on the bench by Heat Head Coach Erik Spoelstra for the game against the Hawks.

Anchoring the second unit, Oladipo produced 22 points, two rebounds, three assists, and two blocks in 32 minutes of action.

The afro beats musician made six of his 12 shots, including four of seven from three-point range, and was six of eight from the free throw line.

Speaking after the game, Oladipo talked about the efficiency in his shots against the Hawks.

He said, "I felt good the percent of your percentages has obviously kind of been up and down this year.

"I mean I'm just gonna keep shooting. I'm Not Really Gonna think about all, that I don't I really don't know you

"I'm not really concerned about you know the past and what the year has been and the up and downs I'm just gonna hoop

"It's been different and you know um things have been different this situation is different but I'm just going to continue to keep making the most of it and just being aggressive."

Oladipo and the Heat got to the Eastern Conference finals last year only to lose to the Boston Celtics.

Following the victory against the Hawks, the Heat have created separation in the seventh spot but are still headed for the play-in.