Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro each racked up 24 points and the Miami Heat pulled away late in the first quarter and never looked back in a 129-101 rout of the host Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night.
Butler made 9 of 12 field-goal attempts and finished with six assists for the Heat, who picked up their third straight win as they continue to push for a guaranteed playoff spot. Miami sits one game behind the sixth-place Brooklyn Nets with two games remaining.
Bam Adebayo supplied 14 points and eight rebounds, while Max Strus also had 14 points as Miami connected on 18 of its 39 shot attempts from beyond the arc. Herro drained five 3-pointers.
Joel Embiid paced the 76ers with 21 points and six rebounds, while James Harden finished with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists.
Cavaliers 118, Magic 94
Danny Green came off the bench to score 21 points, Cedi Osman finished with 19 points and Cleveland rolled over host Orlando in a matchup of patchwork lineups.
Cleveland played without Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert. A much different Cavaliers rotation than the version that outlasted Orlando in a back-and-forth affair Tuesday took command midway through the second quarter of Thursday’s contest.
Orlando played its own makeshift lineup with Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Wendell Carter Jr., Markelle Fultz and Gary Harris all out. Leading reserve scorer, Cole Anthony, also missed Thursday’s game. Jalen Suggs picked up the scoring slack with a game-high 22 points.
Spurs 129, Trail Blazers 127
Keita Bates-Diop racked up 25 points, with 10 of them in the decisive late-game stretch that helped propel San Antonio to a comeback victory over Portland in the first-ever NBA game played at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas.
Keldon Johnson and Julian Champagnie added 24 points each for the Spurs, with Zach Collins totaling 21 points and 10 rebounds and Tre Jones hitting for 18 points and dishing out 10 assists.
Kevin Knox II led the Trail Blazers with 24 while Drew Eubanks had 23. Portland was without injured starters Damian Lillard (calf) Jerami Grant (quadriceps), Jusuf Nurkic (knee) and Anfernee Simons (foot).
Thunder 114, Jazz 98
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 22 points to help visiting Oklahoma City snap a three-game losing streak with a victory over Utah in Salt Lake City.
The result eliminated the short-handed Jazz from postseason contention. The Thunder would clinch a spot in the Western Conference play-in tournament with a win against the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday afternoon.
Josh Giddy contributed 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the Thunder. Kris Dunn finished with 22 points, eight assists and seven boards for the Jazz, while Kelly Olynyk totaled 16 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists.
–Field Level Media
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