Utah Jazz stun Miami Heat - ‘I can’t think of a bigger win than this one’

Marvin Williams scored 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting to lead Utah in a shocking upset of Miami on Saturday night.

Marvin Williams, left, and Utah shocked Miami for just their 17th win of the season on Saturday night. Russ Isabella / USA Today Sports
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SALT LAKE CITY, United States // Marvin Williams has been so hot the last three games that he didn’t let an air ball bother him.

With Utah leading by seven in the fourth quarter against Miami, the reigning NBA champs, the Jazz forward released a 22-foot jumper that wasn’t close.

The Jazz came right back to the unfazed Williams and his back-to-back 3-pointers sparked Utah to a 94-89 win over the Heat.

“I can’t think of a bigger win than this one,” said Williams, who scored 23 points.

Trailing 87-79 after Williams’ shots, the Heat used a 10-4 run to draw within two points after Ray Allen made a three from the corner with 46 seconds to play.

Rookie Trey Burke, who had 13 points, rose up and drained the clutch 19-foot jump shot to beat the shot clock and Gordon Hayward’s free throw clinched the win for the Jazz, who have beat the Heat at home three straight times.

Burke has said he hit the classic rookie “wall” that often plagues first-year players after they’ve played 35-40 games. Shooting just over 30 per cent the past three games, his teammates and coaches have encouraged him to keep shooting.

“They come to me and tell me to play with confidence. ‘Don’t think about it. Just play freely.’ That’s what I did tonight,” said Burke, who had a penchant for big shots as the Associated Press collegiate Player of the Year at the University of Michigan last season.

Dwyane Wade had 19 points for the Heat, who missed their last four shots from the field to thwart their comeback bid. LeBron James was 4-of-13 from the field for 13 points, his lowest scoring total since he had 13 points in a 104-88 win over Atlanta on November 19.

“There’s nobody that can stop LeBron from scoring the basketball, but we tried to slow him down collectively as a team and I think we did pretty good,” Williams said.

Hayward nearly had his first triple-double with nine points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, while often guarding Wade and James. Richard Jefferson had 14 and Alec Burks had 12 points for the Jazz, who snapped their four-game losing streak in front of a frenzied crowd.

James subbed in with 7:54 to play and his team trailing 77-70 and the Heat looked poised for a comeback as they also reached the penalty with 6:51 to play. But James missed his only two field goal attempts of the fourth quarter and was 2-of-4 from the line.

The young Jazz, who entered the game with worst record in the Western Conference, relied on their two veterans down the stretch until Burke’s big shot.

Williams, who averages 9.9 points, has scored 67 points in his last three games and made 5-of-8 from beyond the arc in this one.

After his air ball, Williams made a pair of three-pointers – the last shot just beating the shot clock after Jefferson dove to the floor to gather a loose ball and flip it to Utah’s hot hand.

“He just found somebody open and I was able to get away from Chris Bosh. I just threw it up there and was able to beat the clock and it went in,” Williams said.

Once the Heat turned up the defensive pressure, the Jazz were often scrambling to get any shot they could muster late in the clock. When the ball ended up in the hands of Williams and Jefferson, who had seven in the final period, good things happened.

“I can’t say enough about their focus and desire to help this young group grow. And their play has been great, gives us a chance to be competitive every night,” Utah coach Ty Corbin said of his veteran forwards.

James has averaged 31.3 points and 7.8 assists per game in his last four on the road as the Heat have found their offence, shooting better than 50 per cent.

“It was just one of those games where offensively we were out of rhythm and you try to win on the defensive end,” said James, whose team dropped to 27-2 when holding opponents under 100 points this season.

The four-time MVP also had scored 30 or more in six straight trips to Salt Lake City, averaging 33.5 points while hitting 57.7 per cent from the field, but didn’t ever get things going in a contest that snapped the Heat’s three-game winning streak.

“We didn’t shoot the ball well like we are capable of doing,” James said. “We had some great looks, including myself, some really open looks.”

Even after a couple nights off, the Heat started sluggishly and the Jazz ran around and through them for a 32-18 lead in the first quarter. The Jazz had 11 assists in the opening period and shot 62 per cent.

James gave the Heat their final lead in the opening moments of the third quarter at 54-52, but Utah controlled the game the rest of the way.

“It seemed we were always in the right place at the right time tonight,” Hayward said.

OTHER SATURDAY RESULTS

Spurs 104, Bobcats 100

Guard Patty Mills came off the bench to score a season-high 32 points, including 18 in the fourth quarter, and the San Antonio Spurs pulled away down the stretch for a 104-100 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.

Mills, getting more playing time the last six games while guard Manu Ginobili is out with a hamstring injury, hit 10-of-13 shots from the field and was four of five from three-point range.

The Spurs took control in the final seven minutes of a game that had 12 ties and 15 lead changes.

The Bobcats got 26 points from center Al Jefferson and 23 from guard Gerald Henderson

The Spurs are now 37-14 and the Bobcats fell to 22-29.

Grizzlies 79, Hawks 76

Memphis forward Zach Randolph scored 20 points, leading the Grizzlies to a come-from-behind 79-76 win over the sloppy Atlanta Hawks.

Memphis beat Atlanta for the second time this season despite getting only eight points from center Marc Gasol and despite attempting only one free throw.

The Grizzlies took control in third quarter, outscoring the Hawks 24-11.

It is a big win for the Grizzlies (27-22), who had lost two straight and have been without injured point guard Mike Conley for seven games.

The Hawks (25-24) have lost three straight.

Pistons 126, Nuggets 109

Point guard Brandon Jennings scored a season-high 35 points and made 12 assists to lead the Detroit Pistons to their biggest offensive output this season in a 126-109 victory over the Denver Nuggets.

Forward Josh Smith had 30 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for Detroit (21-29), which snapped a six-game losing streak to the Nuggets.

Center Andre Drummond powered for 18 points and 15 rebounds as the Pistons won for the second straight night.

Guard Randy Foye’s 25 points led the Nuggets (24-25).

Trail Blazers 117, Timberwolves 110

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 26 points on 12-of-16 shooting and added nine rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks to lead Portland (36-15).

Wesley Matthews pitched in 21 and CJ McCollum scored 19.

Corey Brewer and Ricky Rubio provided 26 and 25 points for Minnesota (24-27), respectively.

Rockets 101, Bucks 95

Dwight Howard had a dominant game in the middle, scoring 27 and pulling down 13 rebounds for Houston (34-17). James Harden also scored 22.

Brandon Knight paced Milwaukee (9-41) with 23 points on 10-of-20 shooting.

Suns 122, Warriors 109

Goran Dragic scored 34 points on 10-of-13 shooting and dished 10 assists while PJ Tucker had 16 points and 15 rebounds as Phoenix (30-20) breezed by Golden State (30-21).

Gerald Green also provided 25 points for the Suns, while Stephen Curry had 28 points and nine assists in the loss for the Warriors.