Miami beat Cavs in overtime to stay alive
Injury depleted Jazz register 105-99 victory to end Warriors’ 14-game winning streak
The Miami Heat kept their NBA play-off hopes alive on Monday with a 124-121 overtime victory over Cleveland that dropped the reigning NBA champion Cavaliers to second in the Eastern Conference.
The Cavs, locked in a duel with the Boston Celtics for the top seed in the East, nevertheless rested stars LeBron James and Kyrie Irving in Miami.
“The most important thing is for us to give those guys a rest,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said. “They have carried the load all season.”
Cleveland suffered their second overtime defeat in as many days, having squandered a 26-point fourth-quarter lead in a stunning loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday.
Against the Heat, they took a 91-80 lead into the fourth, but Miami stormed back to force overtime and claim the win.
Tyler Johnson had 24 points and Hassan Whiteside added 23 and 18 rebounds as the Heat snapped a three-game losing streak.
Deron Williams, starting at point guard in place of Irving, led Cleveland with 35 points. Kevin Love added 25 with 10 rebounds before he fouled out with 34 seconds left in overtime.
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With the Celtics beating the Brooklyn Nets 114-105, the defeat dropped the Cavs one game behind Boston for first place in the conference.
James has said he isn’t concerned about the top seed, and teammate Kyle Korver said on Monday that the Cavs just want to get the postseason underway.
“I think we’ve shown that when we’re focused we’re a really good team,” Korver said of the Cavs, despite a ragged end to the regular season.
The Celtics, however, are eager to go into the postseason as the top team in the East.
For the Heat, the victory means they will be fighting with the Indiana Pacers and Chicago Bulls for the last two Philadelphia Brooklyn Cleveland Orlando Charlotte Detroit San Antonio Houston Golden State 111 105 121 75 79 101 98 96 99
play-off spots in the East. The Pacers, with 27 points from Paul George, defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 120-111 on Monday and lie second in the Eastern Conference.
The Bulls crushed the Orlando Magic 122-75 and at 40-41 have the same record as Miami with one game remaining for each.
But Chicago own the tiebreaker, so if they finish with the same record as the Heat, the Bulls will claim the eighth and final play-off spot.
In Oakland, Golden State starts Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant were watching from the bench in the fourth quarter as the injury depleted Utah Jazz completed a 105-99 victory that ended the Warriors’ 14game winning streak.