James ties season low for points as Heat suffer loss.
There were seven games on the NBA schedule on Saturday night, with the Miami Heat slipping to a shock defeat on the road to the Utah Jazz.
Dwyane Wade had 19 points for the visitors, while LeBron James endured a night to forget as he was 4 of 13 from the field for 13 points, his lowest scoring total since had had 13 points against the Atlanta Hawks on November 19.
Miami missed their last four shots to ruin any chance of a comeback, with Marvin Williams, Trey Burke and Gordon Hayward, who came close to a triple double with nine points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, all contributing for the hosts to seal the win.
The Jazz still have the joint worst record in the Western Conference, but Williams was keen to stress that this was perhaps their biggest win thus far and his hope was that the team could use this to build on moving forward.
Elsewhere, the Phoenix Suns were in fine form as Goran Dragic had a career-high 34 points in front of his son, Mateo, who was attending his first NBA game.
Dragic also had 10 assists as he helped the Suns move to 30-20 for the season, a half-game ahead of the Warriors (30-21) for the sixth-best record in the Western Conference.
Gerald Green added 25 points while P.J. Tucker had 16 points and a career-best 15 rebounds for Phoenix, as Stephen Curry responded for the visitors with 28 points and Harrison Barnes had 23, but without the injured duo David Lee and Andrew Bogut, the Warriors were always going to struggle.
Coach Mark Jackson did not want to use that as an excuse after the game as he insisted that he still had enough on his team to win the game, and therefore paid tribute to the Suns who deserved to win.
Elsewhere, Patty Mills scored a season-high 32 points to guide a depleted San Antonio Spurs to victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.
“It’s important for all of us to step up, whether you’re in the backcourt or not,” Mills said. “We have managed to do OK without (Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker). Everyone has been able to collectively step up.”
Tim Duncan finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds for his 22nd double-double of the season, while Nando De Colo tied a career-high with 15 points as the Spurs were able to get the win despite struggling with injuries.
Al Jefferson was the star for the Bobcats, as he led the way with 26 points and nine rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to topple the Spurs (37-14).
Meawhile, LeMarcus Aldridge had 26 points and nine rebounds in the Portland Trail Blazers’ win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, although the latter battled well given that they were without starters Kevin Love, Kevin Martin and Nikola Pekovic as Ricky Rubio ended the game with 25 points and nine assists.
NBA Results:
San Antonio Spurs 104-100 Charlotte Bobcats
Memphis Grizzlies 79-76 Atlanta Hawks
Denver Nuggets 109-126 Detroit Pistons
Portland Trail Blazers 117-110 Minnesota Timberwolves
Houston Rockets 101-95 Milwaukee Bucks
Golden State Warriors 109-122 Phoenix Suns
Miami Heat 89-94 Utah Jazz
COMMENTS