ATLANTA, Jan. 28 (Ticker) -- After a third-quarter lapse with their superstar on the bench, the Miami Heat regained their form and continued their mastery of the Atlanta Hawks.

Shaquille O'Neal had 26 points, eight rebounds and seven assists as the Heat extended their winning streak against the Hawks to seven games and completed a four-game season sweep with a 106-96 victory.

NBA TV highlights from Heat-Hawks: 300k

"It's hard to beat a team six times," said O'Neal, whose team also won two preseason meetings with Atlanta. "I said last week, we've got to improve our effort against a team like this. We have to play a game like this every game."

Just 6-6 since their franchise-record 14-game winning streak, the Heat trailed, 28-27, after one quarter and held just a three-point lead at the break. Ahead, 68-61, with 7:54 to go in the third period, Miami used a 9-0 run to build its biggest advantage of the game, 77-61.

Miami coach Stan Van Gundy elected to rest O'Neal for the remainder of the quarter, and the Hawks - who had lost five of their previous six games - turned to Antoine Walker and Tyronn Lue to get back into the contest.

Walker scored 10 points and Lue added seven during a 21-4 run that gave Atlanta an 82-81 edge with 6.4 seconds to go in the quarter. But Miami recovered quickly as Shandon Anderson completed a three-point play with 3.7 seconds remaining for an 84-82 lead.

"I thought the key tonight, the play that turned the momentum a bit and deflated them, was the play at the end of the third quarter with six seconds (left) coming up the floor," Van Gundy said. "Dwyane (Wade) to Shandon for the dunk. I think that changed everything right there."

"Something I've been talking about all year is closing quarters out," Atlanta coach Mike Woodson said. "In the third quarter, when we got down 16, we could have easily folded. But we fought back and took the lead. We should have had the lead going into the fourth quarter."

O'Neal returned and the Heat regained their composure in the final period, going on a 12-3 spurt to build a 93-85 lead. O'Neal, who reached the 25-point mark for the ninth straight game, scored eight in the period as Miami recorded its 10th win in 11 meetings with Atlanta.

O'Neal was 10-of-19 from the field and went 6-of-11 from the free-throw line, where he was just 13-of-37 in his previous two games.

"I did OK," he said of his free-throw shooting. "I'm not worried about that. I keep shooting it. When it comes time for me to concentrate, I concentrate. I don't like to concentrate early."

Starting for forward Eddie Jones, who was sidelined with the flu, Anderson had 21 points and eight rebounds. Damon Jones added 18 and eight assists and Udonis Haslem 17 and 12 boards for the Heat.

"When Shaq has five guys around him, someone is going to reap the benefits of that," Haslem said. "Fortunately, it was me."

Walker scored a season-high 36 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and dished out eight assists for Atlanta, which made a season-high 11 3-pointers - six by Walker - on 19 attempts but lost its third straight at home to Miami.

"That was an unbelievable shooting night for them," said Van Gundy, who earned the right to coach the Eastern Conference in next month's All-Star Game as a result of the win. "They're last in 3-point shooting, hitting four a night. It's amazing you don't get beat with that. We hung in there."