Butler fuels Heat’s victory over short-handed Lakers
Jimmy Butler scored 28 points to lead the Miami Heat past the
depleted Los Angeles Lakers NBA
110-104 on Thursday.
Victor Oladipo had 18 points and Tyler Herro 15 for the Heat, who bounced back from Tuesday’s 12-point home loss to Memphis.
Kentavious Caldwell-pope hit 6 of 11 3-point tries and totaled 28 points for Los Angeles. Recently acquired Andre Drummond returned from a four-game absence and had 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Lakers. He hurt his right big toe in his Los Angeles debut March 31.
The Lakers continued without injured Lebron James (ankle sprain) and Anthony Davis (calf strain), who have missed 10 and 24 straight games, respectively. Forward Kyle Kuzma (calf strain) also was sidelined Thursday.
■ Mavericks 116, Bucks 101: At Dallas, Kristaps Porzingis scored 11 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter and had 17 rebounds while playing on consecutive days for the first time in two months for Dallas. Milwaukee fell to 1-2 without MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo (sore left knee).
■ Clippers 113, Suns 103: At Los Angeles, Paul George scored 33 points and Kawhi Leonard 27 for
Los Angeles, which halted Phoenix’s seven-game win streak in a matchup of the teams with the West’s top two records.
■ Pistons 113, Kings 101: At Sacramento, Calif., Findlay Prep product
Cory Joseph scored a season-high 24 points with seven assists for Detroit in his first game against his former team, and Sacramento lost its fifth straight.
■ Jazz 122, Trail Blazers 103: At Salt Lake City, Donovan Mitchell had 37 points and Rudy Gobert 18 points and 21 rebounds for Utah, which held a 58-41 edge in rebounds in its 23rd straight home victory.
■ Bulls 122, Raptors 113: At Tampa, Fla., Zach Levine had 22 points and 15 assists for Chicago, which won its third straight. Chris Boucher had 38 points and 19 rebounds for Toronto in its 15th loss in 18 games.
■ Cavaliers 129, Thunder 102: At Oklahoma City, Collin Sexton scored 27 points for Cleveland, which opened the second half with an 11-0 run in its first win over Oklahoma City in the teams’ past six meetings.