Heat put up 81 in a half; 76ers’ road woes continue
Jimmy Butler shook off the notion that a game against his former team should carry extra significance. The win was all that mattered. Butler scored a seasonhigh 38 points before getting the fourth quarter off, and the host Miami Heat scored a franchiserecord 81 points in the second half to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 137106 on Monday night.
“I’m never worried about offense,” Butler said. “Hell, I’m never worried about defense. I’m only worried about winning.”
Goran Dragic scored 24 points for Miami, Duncan Robinson scored 19 and AllStar Bam Adebayo finished with 18 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds for the Heat. Derrick Jones Jr. added 15 points for Miami, which set season highs for points and victory margin. Miami also won the season series 31. “We just want to get better as the season goes on and we knew that this game was important just from the standpoint of being able to go up 31 against one of the teams we’re jostling against in this competitive Eastern Conference,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It matters.”
For Philadelphia, it was more of the same. The team with an NBAbest 222 home record lost for the 10th time in its last 12 road games. Joel Embiid led the 76ers with 29 points and 12 rebounds, and Mike Scott scored 17 points — most of it off 5of7 shooting from 3point range — in 18 minutes.
“Second half we were pretty much nonexistent all around,” Philadelphia’s Tobias Harris said. “We just never made our mark on the defensive end in the second half.”
The 76ers are winning home games by an average of 10 points. But on the road, they’ve been beaten nine times by double digits already this season.
“We’re not playing defense the way we can play defense,” 76ers coach Brett Brown said. “It starts and almost stops there for me.”
Clippers 108, Spurs 105: Paul George hit a basket with 13.7 seconds remaining as Los Angeles escaped with the win over visiting San Antonio.
Knicks 139, Cavaliers 134: Marcus Morris Sr. scored 26 points, including a key jumper in overtime, and New York beat host Cleveland. Celtics 123, Hawks 115: Jayson Tatum scored 28 points and Grant Williams drove for a key basket in the final minute, leading visiting Boston over Atlanta for its fourth straight victory. Kings 112, Timberwolves 109: De’Aaron Fox scored 30 points as host Sacramento held off Minnesota. Nets 119, Suns 97: Caris LeVert tied his career high with 29 points in his first start in nearly three months, helping Brooklyn overcome the absence of Kyrie Irving to beat visiting Phoenix. Magic 112, Hornets 100: Nikola Vucevic scored 22 points, Aaron Gordon had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and visiting Orlando snapped a fivegame skid with a win over Charlotte. Grizzlies 96, Pistons 82: Jonas Valanciunas had 26 points and 17 rebounds, Dillon Brooks added 15 points and host Memphis beat Detroit. Mavericks 112, Pacers 103: Kristaps Porzingis had 38 points and 12 rebounds to lead Dallas past host Indiana.