Miami Heat Without LeBron James and Dwyane Wade Stun Atlanta Hawks in 3OT

With LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, two of the Miami Heat's Big Three, in suits watching from the sidelines, the Atlanta Hawks were primed to catch an easy win in front of their hometown crowd.

But it would be the often forgotten-about third wheel who made their night anything but a walk in the park, giving the Hawks hell in what would be a fight-to-the-finish, electrifying match-up with a surprising victor.

Chris Bosh dropped 33 points (14-27 FG, 4-4 FT), snatched 14 rebounds, dished out five assists and blocked two shots, leading the Heat to a 116-109 triple-overtime road victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday night.

Bosh knocked down a clutch, deep three with 0.6 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game into OT, and continued to dominate Josh Smith throughout the rest of the game.

Mario Chalmers added 29 points (10-21 FG, 3-11 3PT, 6-6 FT)—22 of which came in the fourth quarter or later—eight assists and three steals, and showed that he could run the Miami offense efficiently when James and Wade didn't dominate the basketball.

Joe Johnson was the high-point man for Atlanta with 20 on an abysmal 7-of-20 shooting night, and Josh Smith put up 17 points (6-17 FG) and 13 rebounds.

But the big story of the night was Ivan Johnson, the ex-NBA D-League player, who added 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, several hustle plays and a deeply sought after toughness that the Hawks so desperately needed.

Atlanta neglected to find Al Horford, who only took seven shots despite a lack of defense down low; he finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Tracy McGrady also put up 14 points, and Willie Green had an efficient 14 off of 5-of-6 shooting from the field, but it would be Bosh and Chalmers' combined 62 points, along with 14 points off the bench from Udonis Haslem, that helped give the Heat their fourth straight victory on the road.

Atlanta shot 0-of-7 from the field in 3OT, and Miami took advantage, scoring seven points and getting the victory in front of the rowdy Hawks crowd.

Miami's rookie guard, Terrell Harris out of Oklahoma State, definitely earned some playing time by grabbing 14 rebounds and scoring nine points in 42 minutes off of the bench.

The Heat, now 7-1, are atop the Eastern Conference and sitting pretty, having dominated almost all their opponents thus far. 

Atlanta (4-3) has some questions they must answer, as their core group of guys do not seem to have improved much over the past few years.