Butler posts triple-double as Heat bring down Spurs
MIAMI: Jimmy Butler got his first tripledouble in more than two years. And as always, personal stats didn’t matter much to him.
Butler finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, Tyler Herro led the way with 24 points and the Miami Heat pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the San Antonio Spurs 116-104 on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila).
“My focus is always to win,” Butler said.
Butler’s most recent triple-double was Jan. 29, 2022, but he keyed a late surge that turned a one-point game entering the fourth into a 19-point Heat lead. Bam Adebayo added 20 points for Miami.
Tre Jones and Devin Vassell each scored 19 points and Victor Wembanyana finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Spurs for his 25th double-double of the season, by far the most among this season’s rookie class — Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren has 13 for No. 2 on the list — and the most by a first-year player since Deandre Ayton had 39 and Trae Young had 30 in the 2018-19 campaign.
It was close for the first three quarters, neither team leading by more than eight points at any time in the game’s first 36 minutes. Each of the first three quarters wound up being decided by a single point — Miami won the first 32-31 and the second 2120, San Antonio won the third 26-25.
But in the fourth, the Heat quickly opened some breathing room. Butler found Adebayo with a fast-break lob for a dunk and the night’s first double-digit lead at 89-79, part of a 14-4 Miami run to open the final quarter.
“Their culture, it’s inspiring,” Wembanyama said. “The fact we could hold them for more than three quarters, it also shows some progress from our side.”
Cavs 114, Wizards 106
In Washington, Donovan Mitchell scored 40 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter, and the Cleveland Cavaliers overcame an uneven performance for their 15th victory in 16 games.
Evan Mobley added 22 points on 9-of-10 shooting to help the Cavaliers extend their current NBAbest win streak to seven games and move a game ahead of Milwaukee and New York in second place in the Eastern Conference.
Mitchell and Mobley also had eight rebounds apiece as Cleveland survived a game with nine ties and 17 lead changes against the Wizards, who are second-to-last in the East.
Kyle Kuzma scored 28 points for Washington, which closed a four-game homestand without a victory after winning two of its first three games under interim coach Brian Keefe.
Warriors 127, 76ers 104
In Philadelphia, Andrew Wiggins had 21 points and 10 rebounds and Jonathan Kuminga scored 18 points to lead Golden State past a Philadelphia team sagging without Joel Embiid.
Stephen Curry scored two points in the first half and finished with nine, just two games after he dropped 60 points on Atlanta. Klay Thompson scored 18 points in 28 minutes after he was benched the final seven minutes in Monday’s win against Brooklyn.
With the NBA trade deadline set for Thursday, coach Steve Kerr said he didn’t expect the Warriors to make a major move. The Warriors moved to 23-25 and are still stuck in 11th in the Western Conference — just outside a spot for the Western Conference playin tournament.
Ricky Council 4th scored 17 points for the 76ers, who may slog through the rest of the season with Embiid out significant time following knee surgery. Without Embiid, the 76ers are an ugly 4-12, and a team just two weeks ago that played like an East contender, now faces a play-in possibility.
Celtics 125, Hawks 117
In Boston, Kristaps Porzingis scored 31 points, Derrick White scored 12 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and Boston beat Atlanta.
Jayson Tatum finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and seven assists as the Celtics improved to 24-3 at home and won their seventh straight over the Hawks.
Al Horford added 14 points with eight rebounds and eight assists and Jaylen Brown finished with 15 points.
Brown was the only Boston starter not to hit a 3-pointer as the Celtics went 17 for 49 from beyond the arc, making 9 of 16 in the fourth quarter to put away the pesky Hawks.
Saddiq Bey led Atlanta with 25 points. Trae Young had 20 points and 10 assists and Jalen Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu added 19 points apiece for the Hawks.