Utah Jazz escape with an overtime win over Miami Heat
The Utah Jazz bagged their fourth win of the season and they did it in style, defeating the star-studded Miami Heat, 116-114, in overtime behind the heroics of Paul Millsap on Tuesday 9 November
American Airlines Arena in Miami.
Millsap proved that he deserves to be one of the focal points of the Jazz’s offence as he posted a career-high 46 points, 11 of it coming in the final 28 seconds of the fourth quarter, as
Utah came back from an eight-point deficit to force an extra period.
“I’m speechless. I guess when it rains, it pours,” said Millsap, who also added nine rebounds and was 19-for-28 from the field. “It's speechless, to be down like that to a team like this
and to come out with a win. We clawed our way out of it. But this says a lot about our team.”
Deron Williams also had a share of the spotlight tonight as he scored 21 points and dished out 14 assists, while Andrei Kirilenko added 16 points and nine rebounds. Francisco Elson only scored
two points, but those two points were the game winning free throws for Utah with 0.4 seconds left in the extra period.
LeBron James paced his team with his 29th career triple-double, tallying 20 points, 14 assists, and 11 rebounds for the Heat, who were up by eight points, 98-90, with less than 30 seconds
left in the game, before Millsap and the Jazz unleashed a huge rally.
Millsap, who was just a backup to Carlos Boozer last season, surprised the Heat with his outside sniping as he converted three-straight three-pointers for the Jazz, and capped it off a bucket
off an offensive rebound that extended the game to an extra five minutes.
“I know he can shoot three, I see him do it all summer long,” said Williams when asked if he was surprised when Millsap attempted those three-pointers. “I ask him every year: Are you going
to spread the floor for me and shoot some three now?”
Dwyane Wade led the Heat in scoring with his 39 points, while Chris Bosh added 17 points and nine rebounds, but the production Miami’s superstar trio were not enough to prevent them from
absorbing their third defeat this season.
“We came out flat in the third quarter,” said Bosh. “We didn't have the sense of urgency that we needed. We had a chance to put them away and we didn't.”
The Miami Heat will try to bounce back on Thursday 11 November in their rematch with the Boston Celtics, who defeated them, 88-80, in opening night of the 2010-11 season on 26 October.
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