MIAMI (AP) — Andrew Wiggins’ 3-pointer with 31 seconds left put Miami up for good, Bam Adebayo scored 30 points with a career-best six 3s and the Heat defeated the NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder 122-120 on Saturday night.
Norman Powell scored 19 for Miami, while Pelle Larsson finished with 16. Simone Fontecchio and Myron Gardner combined for 24 points off the Miami bench.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 39 for Oklahoma City, which fell to 35-8 on the season. Aaron Wiggins scored 18 for the Thunder, which got 15 from Ajay Mitchell and 14 from Chet Holmgren.
The Thunder lost Jalen Williams midway through the second quarter with what the team said was right thigh soreness, even though the starting guard was grabbing at his right hamstring as he limped off the floor. He will be evaluated Sunday, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.
Oklahoma City had a chance to tie on the possession following Andrew Wiggins’ go-ahead 3, but Holmgren missed off a lobbed inbounds pass from Alex Caruso and Miami controlled the rebound. The Thunder got a stop on the ensuing Heat possession, calling time with 3.0 seconds remaining.
Caruso inbounded to Gilgeous-Alexander, who quickly sent the ball back to Caruso — whose 3-point try bounced off the backboard and rim as time expired. It was Oklahoma City’s first loss this season when scoring at least 120 points; they were 24-0 in such games entering Saturday.
Miami — which took 111 shots to Oklahoma City’s 77 — was without Tyler Herro (sore big toe, bruised rib) and Jaime Jaquez Jr. (sprained left knee).
Gilgeous-Alexander scored at least 20 points in his 113th consecutive regular-season game, moving within 13 games of tying Wilt Chamberlain’s record.
MAVERICKS 138, JAZZ 120
DALLAS (AP) — Klay Thompson scored all 23 of his points in the first half, including the 17,000th of his career, and six Mavericks scored in double figures in a win over Utah as Dallas completed a two-game sweep of the Jazz.
Dallas and Utah have played three times in 10 days. Utah won at home on January 8, 114-112. Dallas won 144-122 on Thursday.
The Mavericks were without Cooper Flagg (left ankle sprain) for a second straight game and the first injury absences of his rookie season. Dallas was also missing Anthony Davis (finger) and Kyrie Irving (knee) and forward P.J. Washington for personal reasons.
The rest of the Mavericks proved to be more than enough against the Jazz for a second straight game.
Thompson, coming off the bench, had a pair of 3-pointers and then hit a turnaround jumper in the lane with just under five minutes left in the first quarter to reach the 17,000-point plateau. He shot 7 for 12 overall and 6 for 11 from 3-point distance and led the Mavs in scoring for the second straight game in Flagg’s absence after scoring a season-best 26 in Thursday’s win.
Brandon Williams and Max Christie each scored 22 points, Naji Marshall added 16, Jaden Hardy pitched in with 12 and Dwight Powell had 10 for the Mavs, who entered Saturday with wins in just two of their last five games.
CELTICS 132, HAWKS 106
ATLANTA (AP) — Jaylen Brown scored 41 points, Sam Hauser led a 3-point barrage in the second quarter and Boston blew away Atlanta.
The Celtics put this one away with a 52-point outburst in the second quarter, stretching what had been a fairly competitive opening period to an 82-51 laugher at halftime.
Boston barely missed at all in the second, knocking down 19 of 25 shots — including 11 of 15 beyond the 3-point arc. Hauser was perfect on his six attempts from long range in the period, and Brown dazzled inside and out. On a strong drive to the hoop in the final seconds of the half, he flexed his muscles for the State Farm Arena crowd, as if to say the Hawks had no chance of stopping him.
Brown had 29 points by halftime, combining with Hauser (21 points) to nearly outscore the entire Hawks team. The Celtics reached triple figures well before the midway point of the third period and stretched their lead to 43 points before both teams cleared their benches.
Hauser tied his career high with 10 3-pointers, accounting his season-best 30 points. Anfernee Simons chipped in with 14 points, connecting on 4 of 8 outside the stripe.
PISTONS 121, PACERS 78
DETROIT (AP) — Duncan Robinson and Cade Cunningham each scored 16 points in limited minutes as Detroit routed shorthanded Indiana.
The 43-point margin matched the ninth-biggest win in Pistons franchise history.
The Pacers played without their four leading scorers, with Pascal Siakam resting and Benedict Mathurin (thumb), Andrew Nembhard (back) and Obi Toppin (foot) dealing with injuries. T.J. McConnell, who is sixth on the team in scoring and second in assists, also sat out with a knee problem.
Jalen Duren had 15 points and eight rebounds for Detroit, which got points from 13 players. as the Pistons won for the fifth time in six games.
Jarace Walker led Indiana with 13 points and Tony Bradley added 12. The Pacers had won four of five.
Detroit led by as many as 44 points in the third quarter, around the time that Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff pulled his starters for the night. Duren led the starters with 23 minutes and Cunningham and Robinson were the only others to reach 20.
SUNS 106, KNICKS 99
NEW YORK (AP) — Devin Booker scored 27 points after missing a game with a sprained left ankle, and Phoenix beat slumping New York.
Grayson Allen added 16 points and Mark Williams had 14 for the Suns, who had dropped the first two games on their six-game Eastern Conference road trip, including Thursday in Detroit when they played without Booker. He shot only 7 for 18 from the field, but was 12 for 14 on free throws.
Karl-Anthony Towns and Deuce McBride each scored 23 points for the Knicks, who were playing without starters Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart because of ankle injuries. They have lost three straight and eight of their last 10 games.
OG Anunoby added 21 points, but the Knicks committed 17 turnovers and fell to 16-5 at home.
In an ugly game with plenty of diving after loose balls — Allen appeared to badly hurt his nose in a collision on one of them — the Suns broke away from an 87-all tie when Collin Gillespie made a 3-pointer, Booker followed with a three-point play and Williams made two free throws to make it 95-87. The Knicks shot way too poorly to come back, going 1 for 10 on 3s in the fourth quarter with Towns hearing boos after shooting a airball on a wide-open attempt on one of them.
WARRIORS 136, HORNETS 116
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — De’Anthony Melton scored 24 points as Golden State had eight players reach double figures in its victory over Charlotte.
The Warriors hit 23 of their 52 3-point attempts and 10 Golden State players made at least one 3. Golden State now has had at least 10 players make at least one 3-pointer in three straight games, the longest streak in NBA history, per the Elias Sports Bureau. The 3-point arc was introduced for the 1979-80 season.
Golden State extended its winning streak to three games and improved to 5-1 on its eight-game homestand.
Draymond Green scored 20 points for the Warriors, who got 16 from Brandin Podziemski and 14 apiece from Stephen Curry and Buddy Hield.
The Hornets’ Brandon Miller scored a game-high 28 points and Kon Knueppel had 24.
Charlotte was down by a dozen at halftime, then cut its deficit to 82-79 on a layup by Knueppel midway through the third quarter.
Golden State responded with a 20-5 run capped by a Hield 3-pointer from the right corner to go up 102-84 with 2:27 left in the period.
SPURS 126, TIMBERWOLVES 123
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Victor Wembanyama had 39 points and nine rebounds, corralling a critical offensive rebound in the final seconds, enabling San Antonio to fend off Anthony Edwards’ season-high 55 points and beat Minnesota.
Donte DiVincenzo’s 24-foot, 3-pointer put the Timberwolves up 119-118 with 1:03 remaining. Wembanyama responded with a 20-footer and then blocked Joan Beringer’s reverse layup 13 seconds later to preserve the one-point lead.
De’Aaron Fox added 25 points and 12 assists as San Antonio avoided a season sweep of its three-game set against Minnesota. Keldon Johnson added 20 points for the Spurs.
Edwards had 26 points in the fourth quarter, going 5 for 7 on 3-pointers and nearly completed a repeat of Minnesota’s last game against San Antonio.
