An analysis of Friday night’s Miami Heat-Atlanta Hawks

MIAMI  – Observations and other notes of interest from Friday  night’s 122-113 victory to the Atlanta Hawks:

– Based on the night, it’s as if there is a new Heat candidate nightly as the team’s top sixth man.

– Jaime Jaquez Jr. had his run before stepping into the starting lineup for sidelined Jimmy Butler.

– Kevin Love had a run of games where he was the bench spark.

– Even Haywood Highsmith has taken a bow in that regard.

– This time it was Duncan Robinson on a night the rest of the bench was dormant.

– Essentially, that is where the Heat stand.

– This will not be like when Tyler Herro was Sixth Man of the Year two seasons back.

– It will have to be by committee.

– Friday night, Robinson largely was a committee of one.

– Giving life when Herro dared take a rest.

– When the Heat needed offense early in the fourth.

– With Butler out for a second consecutive game with a calf strain, the Heat opened for the second consecutive game with a lineup of Bam Adebayo, Caleb Martin, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Herro and Kyle Lowry.

– The Heat entered with 16 lineups in their previous 28 games.

– Adebayo’s first assist was the 1,500th of his career.

– Love was back after missing Wednesday night’s victory in Orlando with a stomach illness.

–  Inactive for the Heat were Butler, Dru Smith (knee), Nikola Jovic (G League), Cole Swider (G League) and RJ Hampton (G League).

– Martin opened defensively on Trae Young.

– The Heat opened with a 9-0 lead. Their previous largest lead against a scoreless opponent was 6-0 vs. Cavaliers.

– Love and Josh Richardson entered together as the first two Heat reserves.

– Highsmith and Robinson followed together in the first quarter in the next Heat substitution.

– That nine deep left centers Thomas Bryant and Orlando Robinson out of the mix.

– As well as Jamal Cain.

–– Heat coach Erik Spoelstra went in with a focus on containing the Hawks’ offense.

– “I felt like the last handful of years, they’ve been one of the better scoring teams in the league,” Spoelstra said. “And they’re blowing that all out the door this year. They really can score. They put up big numbers.”

– With Young again the prime focus.

– “He’s definitely going to go for that,” Spoelstra said, “and we have to be prepared not only for him, but (Bogdan) Bogdanovic has had a really good five games, (Dejounte) Murray is always extremely disruptive. I just think overall they’re scoring at ease.”

– With the Heat on Friday having set Jan. 19 for the retirement of Udonis Haslem’s No. 40 jersey, Spoelstra spoke pregame of the meaning of that moment.

– “I’m definitely looking forward to the celebration and honoring UD,” Spoelstra said. “He is the face of our culture now. Everything that we stand for, he lived it, breathed it and bled it for all those years. That’s why he has so much respect around this Association,  in our building, in the entire 305 and this district. He’s done it all on the court and off the court.”

– Spoelstra added, “That will be a really cool night. It will be good for everybody to see that and I think the rest of the league will acknowledge that as well, which is cool.”

– Hawks coach Quin Snyder was asked pregame about the uniqueness of Adebayo.

– “You put him in the category of (Nikola) Jokic or (Domantas) Sabonis, as far as being a playmaker,” Snyder said. “And I think what makes him special, too, is that he reads the game so well. He takes what you give him. And his ability to pass, obviously handle the ball and to shoot makes him unique.”

– Snyder added, “He’s a special player and the way Spo uses him brings those talents out. And the way they play collectively, he makes other people better. That’s about the best compliment you can give to a player offensively, they make other people batter.”

– The Heat entered on a 19-game home winning streak against division opponents, one shy of the team record set in 2006.