Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY — LeBron James had the ball and a chance to finish a furious rally that would extend Miami’s winning streak.
Instead, he left it up to Udonis Haslem.
Haslem missed a long jumper just before the buzzer, and the Utah Jazz help on for a 99-98 victory on Friday night that snapped the Heat’s nine-game winning streak.
James had 35 points — 17 in the fourth quarter — 10 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots. He kicked the ball out to Haslem as Josh Howard and Paul Millsap converged on him and felt he made the right call because Haslem had a good look at the basket.
“I just try to make the right plays and do what it takes to win basketball games,” James said. “At the end of the day, games are not lost on one shot at the end or me not taking a shot. But I know the chatter will begin. I wanted that game as bad as anyone else on that floor.”
Devin Harris converted the go-ahead, three-point play with 4.5 seconds left. He wasn’t planning to shoot, but center Al Jefferson was double-teamed and kicked it back out to the point guard, who made a runner in the lane while being fouled.
“I gave Al a funny look because I wasn’t expecting to get the ball back that early,” Harris said. “It really wasn’t a true double-team. But he has confidence in me and he’s been telling me all night he was going to kick it back out. He wants to be Magic Johnson, so we’ll let him be Magic for tonight.”
Dwyane Wade chipped in 31 points and six rebounds. Shane Battier also added 18 points for the Heat (28-8), who were playing without All-Star Chris Bosh.
“We are a very confident team,” Wade said. “We never feel like we are out of the game. You just have to keep chipping away. We have guys that can make plays on both ends of the floor, so we are always very confident that we can get back into the game, especially on the road, to give ourselves the opportunity to win.”
Miami had won all nine games in its streak by more than 10 points.
“We gave ourselves an opportunity to win,” Wade said. “A lot of things didn’t go in our favor, but we did what we wanted to do to be there in the end.”
Al Jefferson came up with 20 points and six rebounds to lead the Jazz (17-18) to their second straight win. Five other players scored in double figures for Utah, led by C.J. Miles with 14 points off the bench.
James led a big fourth-quarter rally, making the go-ahead 3-pointer and then adding a long jumper to give the Heat a 97-94 lead with 26 seconds left. Miami had a chance to put it away, but Wade missed a free throw down the stretch and that put Harris in a position to tie the game or give the Jazz the lead.
“You think you have him under control,” Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said. “And then you get in the third quarter when the game was getting out of hand for them, and he just made plays for the rest of the quarter and the rest of the game. Some of those shots he made, there couldn’t have been any better defense on him.”
Utah dominated Miami in the first half in a fashion. The Jazz collected 29 rebounds compared to 13 for Miami. They grabbed two more offensive rebounds than the total rebounds the Heat collected as a team. Utah totaled 36 points in the paint versus 14 for Miami and scored 20 second-chance points compared to five for the Heat.
Battier burned the Jazz from the perimeter throughout the first quarter. The veteran forward buried all four 3-pointers he attempted in the first quarter and it helped the Heat carve out a 21-16 lead. Miami needed every one of those points to keep pace with a Utah team that sliced to the basket at will and controlled the paint early.
The Jazz had 16 points in the paint in the first quarter alone. They also scored seven second-chance points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Utah’s effort around the glass paid off when Enes Kanter grabbed an offensive rebound, tossed up a short layup and converted the ensuing free throw to give the Jazz a 27-26 lead going into the second quarter.
“We played all-around good defense and communication is the key to that,” Howard said. “Guys were talking to each other and our good defense created good offense for us.”
Utah’s dominance in the paint continued into the second quarter. Between a thundering dunk from Derrick Favors and layups from Kanter, Miles and Alec Burks, the Jazz picked apart Miami’s interior defense and used an 18-4 run to take a 42-30 lead. A pair of jumpers from Jefferson and a driving layup by Harris helped push it to a 53-36 advantage for Utah with 2:21 left before halftime.
The Jazz pushed their lead to 74-56 midway through the third quarter after Gordon Hayward made three straight baskets and set up Harris on a 3-pointer to cap a 13-4 Utah run.
Miami rallied toward the end of the quarter behind Wade and James. Wade made a couple of key baskets to shift momentum back to the Heat. James built the pressure on the Jazz by answering every potentially big basket from Utah with one of his own.
James made six baskets over a five-minute stretch spanning the third and fourth quarters to cut the Jazz lead to 85-79 with 8:17 left. He accounted for 12 of 14 points scored during that stretch. He later made a pair of baskets on back-to-back possessions to tie it at 88 with 4:48 remaining.
LAKERS 115, KINGS 107
LOS ANGELES — Kobe Bryant scored 38 points in his second straight big game in a protective mask, and Los Angeles blew most of a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter before holding on to beat Sacramento in its highest-scoring performance of the season.
Andrew Bynum had 19 points and 15 rebounds for the Lakers, who improved to 16-1 at home since losing their season opener on Christmas. Pau Gasol added 15 points, and Metta World Peace scored eight of his 15 points in the final 5 minutes when the Lakers finally countered a lengthy rally by Sacramento’s reserves.
76ERS 105, WARRIORS 83
PHILADELPHIA — Lou Williams scored 25 points, and Elton Brand had 14 points and 14 rebounds to lead Philadelphia over Golden State in the 50th anniversary of Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game.
The Sixers topped 100 points for the first time in 20 games on the night they paid tribute to the record Chamberlain set for the Philadelphia Warriors against the New York Knicks on March 2, 1962, at the Hershey Sports Arena.
BULLS 112, CAVALIERS 91
CLEVELAND — Luol Deng scored a season-high 24 points and Derrick Rose added 19 and Chicago won its fifth straight with a victory over Cleveland, which was without rookie guard Kyrie Irving.
Up by 12 at halftime, Chicago built a 24-point lead in the third quarter and coasted to its 12th win in 14 games to stay on Miami’s heels for the best record in the Eastern Conference.
SUNS 81, CLIPPERS 78
PHOENIX — Jared Dudley scored 22 points and made two crucial free throws in the final minute and Phoenix rallied from an 11-point deficit to beat Los Angeles.
Marcin Gortat had 18 points and 14 rebounds, and Grant Hill added 14 points for the Suns, who won for the fourth time in five games despite shooting 35 percent from the floor.
NUGGETS 117,
ROCKETS 105
HOUSTON — Ty Lawson had 22 points and a career-high 15 assists, Arron Afflalo scored 16 of his 17 points in the second half and Denver rallied to beat Houston.
Kenneth Faried added 16 points and 11 rebounds and Andre Miller scored 16 for the Nuggets, who shook off a dismal shooting start and ended up with seven players scoring in double figures.
CELTICS 107, NETS 94
BOSTON — Paul Pierce had 27 points and eight assists, and Boston got back above .500 with its third straight win.
Kevin Garnett added 20 points and 10 rebounds for his second straight double-double and third in four games. Rajon Rondo joined him with a double-double, finishing with 14 points and 13 assists for Boston (18-17).
HORNETS 97,
MAVERICKS 92
NEW ORLEANS — Chris Kaman had 20 points and 13 rebounds, Jarrett Jack hit a key basket down the stretch and New Orleans beat Dallas.
The Hornets led for the entire second half but did not secure the win until Jack hit a leaning jumper with 17.9 seconds left, giving them a 93-89 lead. Xavier Henry added a season-high 19 points off the bench. Jack finished with 15 points and six assists.
HAWKS 99, BUCKS 94
ATLANTA — Vladimir Radmanovic made the go-ahead 3-pointer with 11.9 seconds remaining and Atlanta rallied in the final period to beat Milwaukee.
Jannero Pargo scored 11 points, all in the fourth quarter. The Hawks, playing without leading scoring Joe Johnson, leaned on their reserves, including veterans Tracy McGrady and Jerry Stackhouse, in the final period.
SPURS 102, BOBCATS 72
SAN ANTONIO — Tony Parker scored 15 points, and San Antonio overwhelmed Charlotte in the second half for a victory.
The Spurs (25-11) bounced back from a rare home loss earlier this week against Chicago to win for the 13th time in their last 15 games. The Bobcats (4-30), who were playing San Antonio for the only time this season, have lost four straight and 20 of their last 21.
GRIZZLIES 102,
RAPTORS 99
TORONTO — Rudy Gay had 23 points and 12 rebounds, Mike Conley and Marc Gasol each scored 21 and Memphis beat Toronto, its sixth straight victory over the Raptors.
Standings
National Basketball Association
All Hawaii times
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
W L Pct GB
Philadelphia 22 15 .595 —
Boston 18 17 .514 3
New York 18 18 .500 31/2
Toronto 11 25 .306 101/2
New Jersey 11 26 .297 11
Southeast Division
Miami 28 8 .778 —
Orlando 23 14 .622 51/2
Atlanta 21 15 .583 7
Washington 7 28 .200 201/2
Charlotte 4 30 .118 23
Central Division
Chicago 30 8 .789 —
Indiana 22 12 .647 6
Milwaukee 14 22 .389 15
Cleveland 13 21 .382 15
Detroit 12 25 .324 171/2
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Southwest Division
W L Pct GB
San Antonio 25 11 .694 —
Memphis 21 15 .583 4
Dallas 21 16 .568 41/2
Houston 21 16 .568 41/2
New Orleans 9 27 .250 16
Northwest Division
Oklahoma City 29 7 .806 —
Denver 20 17 .541 91/2
Portland 18 18 .500 11
Minnesota 18 19 .486 111/2
Utah 17 18 .486 111/2
Pacific Division
L.A. Clippers 21 13 .618 —
L.A. Lakers 22 14 .611 —
Phoenix 16 20 .444 6
Golden State 14 19 .424 61/2
Sacramento 12 24 .333 10
Friday’s results
Memphis 102, Toronto 99
Atlanta 99, Milwaukee 94
Boston 107, New Jersey 94
Chicago 112, Cleveland 91
Denver 117, Houston 105
New Orleans 97, Dallas 92
Philadelphia 105, Golden State 83
San Antonio 102, Charlotte 72
Utah 99, Miami 98
L.A. Lakers 115, Sacramento 107
Phoenix 81, L.A. Clippers 78
Today’s games
Oklahoma City at Atlanta, 2 p.m.
Milwaukee at Orlando, 2 p.m.
Cleveland at Washington, 2 p.m.
Indiana at New Orleans, 3 p.m.
Detroit at Memphis, 3 p.m.
Utah at Dallas, 3:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Portland, 5 p.m.
