Apr 30, 2009 11:18 am US/Eastern
Heat Are Bruised, Beaten, And Angry
Return To AA Arena For Game 6 Against Hawks
ATLANTA, Ga. (CBS4) ―
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Joe Johnson #2 of the Atlanta Hawks drives to the basket against James Jones #22 of the Miami Heat in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2009 NBA Playoffs at Philips Arena on April 29, 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Scott Cunningham/NBAE/Getty Images
The Atlanta Hawks hammered the Miami Heat again on Wednesday night in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. The Heat return to the friendly confines of the AmericanAirlines Arena for Game 6 and are playing to save their season and push the series to a deciding game 7.
The Heat, which in the playoffs has basically been Dwayne Wade against the Hawks, are relying heavily on Wade who is still nursing a back problem and getting hit in the head during Wednesday's game 5 loss.
None of the games between the Heat and the Hawks have been close, but Wednesday's game got physical and had several players staring each other down throughout the game, even with NBA Commissioner David Stern looking on.
Wade scored 29 points but didn't get going until the game was long decided. But, Wade's looking for retribution against the Hawks, not for the hard foul that left him with a bump on his noggin, but instead for a move by Josh Smith near the end of the game.
Smith tried a between-the-legs windmill dunk late in the game when Atlanta was up by 20. Smith missed the dunk, but he definitely hit a nerve with the Heat.
"We were very insulted by it," Wade said.
So was rookie coach Erik Spoelstra.
"There at the end it turned into a highlight show. A pickup game highlight reel, really trying to embarrass us," Spoelstra said. "Now we've played five games against each other. I don't think anybody on either side likes each other anymore."
A limited number of tickets are still available for game 6 at any Ticketmaster location or at the AmericanAirlines box office.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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