Richardson’s layup caps win
Host Miami extends streak to four victories
MIAMI — This was a game when the Miami Heat needed someone, anyone, to offer a spark on an afternoon of lethargy.
In the end, Josh Richardson took that challenge, scoring the winning basket on a driving layup with 5.1 seconds to play.
Against an opponent that entered searching for answers, Richardson offered a punctuation mark as the Heat stormed back from a late eight-point deficit.
The result was a 103-102 victory Sunday over the Utah Jazz that sent the Heat into one of their moment challenging stretches of schedule on an up note, a season-best four-game winning streak, with 11 of the next 14 on the road, starting Tuesday night against the Toronto Raptors.
The clutch gene? The Heat seem to have it, now 16-7 in “clutch” games, defined as any game within five points in the final five minutes.
“It was up to him to make the decision,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the winning basket by Richardson. “There were some layers to that.
“He’s ready for the next jump. The jump is ready for him. It’s not just a matter of when.”
While rookie guard Donovan Mitchell stepped up with 27 points for the Jazz — only to come up short just before the final buzzer — the Heat won with an ensemble approach.
Heat center Hassan Whiteside closed with 14 points and 10 rebounds and forward James Johnson had 13 points and 11 rebounds. Beyond those double-doubles there were 16 points from Goran Dragic and Tyler Johnson, 14 from Richardson and 12 from Kelly Olynyk.
Ultimately the Heat survived Mitchell.
“It looked like it had a chance from my angle,” Spoelstra said of Mitchell’s final attempt.
A step-back 3-pointer by James Johnson early in the fourth quarter pulled the Heat within 86-83, with the Jazz then scoring five straight points for a 91-83 lead, their largest to that stage.
Later, a 3-pointer by Tyler Johnson moved the Heat within 96-92 with 4:03 to play.
The Heat then moved to a smaller lineup without Whiteside, as they had done in the preceding victories over the Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks, with an Olynyk free throw drawing them within 98-95 with 2:23 to play.
Rodney Hood then converted a jumper in the lane to put the Jazz up 100-95, with Olynyk off with a drive on the other end.
From there, a Richardson dunk in transition got the Heat within 100-97 with 1:23 to play.
The Heat then forced a turnover, with possession confirmed by replay. That put Dragic to the line with 59.6 second left, and he made both foul shots to draw the Heat within 100-99.
That’s when Mitchell attacked the rim for a 102-99 Utah lead, with Olynyk getting to the line on the other end, making both to make it a 102-101 game with 37 seconds to play.
The Heat then attempted to play in transition off a missed Hood 3-pointer, before Spoelstra opted for a timeout with 7.8 seconds to play.
That’s when Richardson turned the corner for a layup with 5.1 seconds to play and a 103-102 Heat lead. The Jazz then went to Mitchell, who was off with a wild running jumper before the buzzer.
The Jazz took a 75-74 lead going into the fourth quarter. The Heat entered 1-14 when trailing at the end of the third quarter this season, including 0-6 at home. Mitchell was up to 21 points at that stage, with no Heat player with more than Dragic’s 13 points to that point.
The game concluded the two-game season series as the Heat wound up with their first season sweep of the Jazz since 2008-09, having split the two games with Utah each of the previous five seasons.