NBA News Wire
Jazz 94, Heat 89
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
SALT LAKE CITY — Forward Marvin Williams tied his season high with 23 points and rookie point guard Trey Burke hit a late clutch jumper as the Utah Jazz stunned the Miami Heat 94-89 on Saturday night at EnergySolutions Arena.
Williams hit 5 of 8 3-pointers, including back-to-back shots late in the fourth quarter to give the Jazz a 10-point lead.
Miami missed its final four shots as its three-game winning streak was snapped. Guard Dwyane Wade led the Heat (35-14) with 19 points and forwards LeBron James and Chris Bosh scored just 13 points apiece on a combined 7-of-25 shooting from the field.
Burke, who was just named Western Conference rookie of the month, hit the clutch shot of the game with a mid-range jumper with 24.2 remaining to put the Jazz ahead 93-89. That shot came seconds after Miami guard Ray Allen’s 3-pointer made it a two-point game.
Burke finished with 13 points, small forward Richard Jefferson scored 14 and shooting guard Gordon Hayward flirted with a triple-double, contributing 11 assists, nine rebounds and nine points for the Jazz.
The win was Utah’s third straight over Miami at home and snapped a four-game skid.
The Heat were in Utah on Friday while the Jazz stumbled to a 103-81 loss in Dallas. But even though Miami had three days off since beating the Clippers 116-112 on Wednesday night in Los Angeles, it was the Jazz who came out with more energy.
After falling behind 4-0, the Jazz took a 6-4 lead on back-to-back 3-pointers by Williams and small forward Richard Jefferson.
Williams scored five more points in an 8-0 spurt later in the first quarter and Utah eventually went ahead by 14 points in the first half.
Chalmers capped a 16-6 spurt toward the end of the second quarter with a 3-pointer that gave Miami its first lead since the beginning of the game.
Utah, however, finished the half with some momentum when Williams hit a deep shot for a 52-50 halftime lead.
The Jazz maintained that two-point edge through the third quarter before increasing its lead to 10 in the fourth after Williams’ treys. It was the second night in a row the Jazz forward drained five 3-pointers.
The Heat, the NBA’s top-shooting team, only shot 43.3 percent from the field and scored 14 points below their season average. Miami made a franchise-record 63.4 percent of its shots from the floor against Utah in 117-94 blowout in Miami on Dec. 16.
NOTES: Miami C Chris Bosh admittedly isn’t much of a Winter Olympics fan, but he joked that he could see the creative F LeBron James excel as a figure skater and kidded about a possible different sport for SG Dwyane Wade. “He’s short, so he could do that speedskating,” Bosh told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. … Miami had not won in Utah since a 111-98 victory on Dec. 8, 2010. The Jazz won the last two meetings between the teams at EnergySolutions Arena. … Upon urging by Jazz assistant Sidney Lowe, rookie PG Trey Burke watched Miami SG Ray Allen warm up before Saturday’s game. Allen then took Burke to the side and had an extended conversation with him. “He was basically trying to help me figure out how to get into a regular routine that I can stay consistent with,” Burke said. “He said it will definitely help you out on the court. … You always like talking to vets like that.”
