Heat outlast Nuggets, win 2 OT thriller
They broke the stat system. That’s how good Miami and Denver were — even modern technology couldn’t keep up with the Heat and Nuggets on Monday night. For 48 minutes, they went back and forth. And one overtime wouldn’t decide it, either. Finally, after three hours, the host Heat said enough. James Johnson scored 31 points, Kelly Olynyk added 30 off the bench and Miami set a franchise single-game scoring record in beating the Nuggets 149-141 in double overtime.
“There didn’t deserve to be a loser,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Guys probably really enjoyed playing in a game like this.”
His guys did, anyway. Olynyk became the second reserve in Heat history to score 30.
There was no official boxscore after the game, because the system crashed in the first overtime and crews were scrambling to determine official numbers long after the final buzzer.
Miami’s point total was also an NBA season high.
Cavaliers 124, Bucks 117: LeBron James scored 40 points as part of his third triple-double in four games and Cleveland beat visiting Milwaukee as coach Tyronn Lue began his leave of absence to address health issues. Lue said in a statement that he has been dealing with chest pains and loss of sleep, and that tests have offered no conclusion about what the issue is. Associate head coach Larry Drew will run the team in Lue’s absence. James scored 17 points in the third quarter and finished with 12 rebounds and 10 assists for his 16th triple-double this season and 71st of his career.
76ers 108, Hornets 104: Joel Embiid had 25 points and 19 rebounds and Ben Simmons had a triple-double to lead host Philadelphia. Simmons had 11 points, 12 rebounds and 15 assists.
Pacers 110, Lakers 100: Victor Oladipo sparked a decisive run and finished with 20 points, Myles Turner had 21 points and host Indiana recovered from a poor start for a victory.
Knicks 110, Bulls 92: Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 22 points and Michael Beasley added 17 as New York beat visiting Chicago.
Nets 118, Grizzlies 115: Allen Crabbe and Caris LeVert each scored 22 points and host Brooklyn beat Memphis.
Pistons 106, Kings 90: Blake Griffin had 26 points, nine rebounds and seven assists and visiting Detroit pulled away in the third quarter to beat Sacramento.