Jimmy Butler scored a season-high 33 points as the Miami Heat beat the NBA-leading Utah Jazz 124-116 on Friday to extend their winning streak to five games.
Butler also added 10 rebounds and eight assists to lead giant-killers Miami, who have toppled the NBA’s two most recent champions in the past week — the Toronto Raptors and defending champions the Los Angeles Lakers.
“I don’t want to say that we’re good yet,” Butler said. “We’ve got so much more that we can be better at. Myself, anybody, I don’t want us to get complacent and think that we’re cool.”
Photo: AFP
Goran Dragic scored 26 points, while center Bam Adebayo had 19 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in the win.
“We just tried to take away their easy shots — and we did,” Dragic said.
Donovan Mitchell shot 11 of 26 from the field and finished with 30 points for the Jazz, who dropped to 26-7 overall, but still have the best record in the NBA.
The Jazz also got 17 points from Bojan Bogdanovic, while Rudy Gobert racked up 15 points and 12 rebounds.
They missed their last seven shots and were three for 16 from the floor in the final eight minutes.
“We just made a lot of mistakes, had too many breakdowns on both ends,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said.
RAPTORS 122, ROCKETS 111
In Tampa, Kyle Lowry recorded a triple double as the Toronto Raptors beat the Houston Rockets 122-111, despite missing six members of their coaching staff, including head coach Nick Nurse.
The Raptors announced just prior to the game that the six would be unavailable for the NBA contest because of COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
Toronto forward Pascal Siakam also sat out the game due to the same protocols.
The 53-year-old Nurse, who is the reigning league coach of the year, is in his third season as Toronto’s head coach. Assistant coach Sergio Scariolo took charge of the Raptors bench against the Rockets.
The Raptors led by eight points at the half, had a 23-point lead at one stage in the third quarter and took a 15-point lead going into the final quarter.
Lowry finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists to post his 16th career triple-double as a Raptor.
Victor Oladipo had 27 points, while John Wall had 21 points and 12 assists for the Rockets, who lost their 10th straight game. Eric Gordon had 17 points, while P.J. Tucker and Danuel House each scored 11 points.
Also on Friday, it was:
‧ Celtics 118, Pacers 112
‧ Lakers 102, Trail Blazers 93
‧ Warriors 130, Hornets 121
‧ Suns 106, Bulls 97
‧ Clippers 119, Grizzlies 99
‧ Kings 110, Pistons 107
‧ Thunder 118, Hawks 109
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Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
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