It was the perfect setting for a Heat victory.

Miami visited the injury-riddled and exhausted Atlanta Hawks, minus forward Toni Kukoc and on the second half of a back-to-back that had them in Milwaukee the previous night.

But even with that help Thursday, victory eluded the Heat. Despite leading by as many as 19 points, Miami succumbed to Atlanta's zone defense and faded defensively in the final minutes of a 100-96 loss at Philips Arena, one of the Heat's toughest defeats this year.

``Just when you think it can't get any worse, it gets worse,'' coach Pat Riley said afterward. ``It's just ridiculous.''

The Heat was outscored 31-16 in the final quarter as Atlanta erased what was an 80-62 Heat lead with 1:49 left in the third period. The rally culminated with Jason Terry's hanging, running jumper with 12.3 seconds left, giving Atlanta a 99-96 lead with two of his game-high 32 points. The Heat's final opportunity was wasted on LaPhonso Ellis' airball three-pointer with three seconds remaining.

But this game was not lost in the closing seconds. The Heat failed to maintain its lead because it couldn't stop the Hawks on defense and couldn't break their zone on offense.

The Heat scored just four baskets in the final 8:01. Meanwhile, the Hawks outscored Miami 18-4 in the last 5:09, taking advantage of the Heat's defensive lapses.

``When they put the zone up we quit,'' Heat forward Brian Grant said after his 16-point, 11-rebound effort. And, ``we just didn't stop them on the defensive end. They just kept running pick-and-rolls, then they would kick out for the three. They just dissected us. We acted like we didn't know how to play. . . . We had these cats by [19] at one point.''

For most of the game, the Heat looked nothing like the team it has become this season. Miami looked fluid, shooting the ball with consistency and converting from the inside and outside. Eddie Jones, who finished with a team-high 24 points, led Miami to a season-best 58 points in the first half with 16.

The Heat also played its most productive quarter of the season in the first quarter, scoring a season-high 35 points to lead 35-18. The Heat shot 54 percent, hitting 14 of 26 shots -- matching a season high for field goals in a quarter.

Miami led by 19 on four occasions, marking the team's biggest lead of the season. And the Heat was playing aggressively, earning seven more trips to the-free throw line in the first half than the Hawks. But the tenacity didn't last. Atlanta finished with three more free-throw attempts than the Heat.

``What happened?'' center Alonzo Mourning said. ``We let it go. We got passive. We just let the game go. When you have a team down, especially in our position, you can't afford to let a team back in the game. You have to keep them down. We have to have a more desperate attitude and we didn't have that tonight.

``We should be sick with ourselves right now. Each and every one of us.''

The game turned gradually, but surely for Atlanta.

With 8:54 left, the lead shrunk to less than 10 points for the first time since the seven-minute mark in the second quarter when Nazr Mohammed tipped in a miss to close the gap to 88-80.

The loss was tough to handle because Miami has controlled so few games this season like it did this one.

``This is definitely worse than getting beat badly because you've been in control the whole way until the last few minutes,'' forward Jim Jackson said.