NBA 2014-15: Dante Exum’s Utah Jazz beat New York Knicks with buzzer beater
DANTE EXUM and Joe Ingles made solid contributions as the Utah Jazz won a final-second thriller against the New York Knicks.
DANTE EXUM and Joe Ingles made solid contributions as the Utah Jazz won a final-second thriller against the New York Knicks.
Here’s our full wrap of a huge day of NBA action.
HOW THE AUSSIES FARED
Ingles stepped off the bench and hit two three-pointers to spark the Jazz in the second quarter, and added two steals, two rebounds and an assist in another valuable performance for his team, which included making the pass that set up the game-winning shot.
Exum had a quiet night and spent just 16 minutes on the court, but connected on a three-pointer and had two assists as his team held off Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks.
In the late game, San Antonio Spurs backup centre Aron Baynes got 20 minutes of game time and scored four points and grabbed seven rebounds as the Spurs beat the Lakers 93-80.
JAZZ 102, KNICKS 100
Carmelo Anthony’s 42 points and game-tying three-pointer with 2.3 seconds remaining were to no avail as the Utah Jazz beat the New York Knicks with a buzzer-beater of their own.
Trey Burke hit a jump shot as the clock expired, after a slick inbound pass from Ingles, to hand the Knicks their seventh straight loss, 102-100.
The Knicks fell to 2-8 despite a season-best night for Anthony, who hit 16 of 26 shots. His game-tying shot was the only three-pointer he attempted on the night and it was also the first time the Knicks scored 100 points this season.
Gordon Hayward led Utah with 33 points, Derrick Favors had 21 points and 12 rebounds and Burke finished with 13.
The youthful Jazz raced out to a 13-point first-quarter lead, but the Knicks crept back thanks to a frenetic J.R. Smith, who scored nine first-half points before heading to the bench with three fouls.
CAVALIERS 122, CELTICS 121
LeBron James scored a season-high 41 points, and the Cleveland Cavaliers overcame a 19-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Boston Celtics 122-121 on Friday night.
James made one of two free throws with 36 seconds left to give Cleveland that one-point lead. The Celtics then lost the ball out of bounds, but Kyrie Irving missed a layup and Avery Bradley rebounded for Boston, which called time-out with 7 seconds to go.
But the Celtics couldn’t get a shot off as Rajon Rondo, who finished with 16 assists, lost control of his dribble near the top of the key just before the final buzzer sounded.
PELICANS 139, TIMBERWOLVES 91
The New Orleans Pelicans made Minnesota pay for its inexperienced line-up in a 139-91 thumping — the Timberwolves’ worst loss in franchise history.
The Wolves were without the injured Ricky Rubio and power forward Thaddeus Young, whose mother died yesterday. Looking for a way to slow down Pelicans star Anthony Davis, coach Flip Saunders inserted Gorgui Dieng into the power forward slot. That gave the Wolves a starting five with two rookies and a second-year player, and Pelicans had a field day in response.
With Davis and Jrue Holiday leading the way, the Pelicans had runs of 7-0, 11-0 and 7-0, all in the first quarter, against a Wolves team (2-6) that looked both tired and discouraged.
With the game decided very, very early, the final quarter of the game was played out with the ends of both benches on the court and most of the Wolves’ starters sitting quietly on the bench.
In a crescendo of Davis alley-oops and three-point bombs from up and down the line-up, the Pelicans did nothing but shoot straight all night.
New Orleans scored 43 first-quarter points, one off the Wolves’ record for most points allowed in an opening quarter.
MAGIC 101, BUCKS 85
Victor Oladipo made his regular-season debut to lift Orlando to a much-needed win over Milwaukee
Oladipo played 25 minutes and finished with 13 points, three rebounds and two assistsafter giving his team a huge boost when he stepped onto the court with 3:45 left in the first quarter.
From that point on, the Magic outscored the Bucks 89-64.
The Magic (4-6) faced a challenge in the fourth quarter when the Bucks cut the lead to 84-74 with 8:39 remaining in the game on a pair of Giannis Antetokounmpo baskets and a basket by John Henson.
Coach Jacque Vaughn called a time-out and put Oladipo back into the game alongside Harris, Evan Fournier, Willie Green and Nik Vucevic.
But just when Milwaukee cut Orlando’s lead to 90-83, Fournier grabbed a defensive rebound. On that possession, Vucevic sent a no-look pass to Harris as Harris cut, and Harris scored on a dunk. That was the cushion Orlando needed.
HAWKS 114, HEAT 103
The Atlanta Hawks used a 23-8 fourth-quarter run to take control of a game they led throughout en route to a 114-103 victory against Miami.
The Hawks had eight players in double-figure scoring, led by Paul Millsap and Al Horford with 19 points apiece, with Jeff Teague (16), Kyle Korver (12), Thabo Sefolosha (12), Shelvin Mack (12), Mike Scott (11) and Dennis Schroder (10) also chipping in.
The victory was the fourth straight for the Hawks (5-3). They have won all four home games this season.
The Heat (5-4) were less than their championship self, with Dwyane Wade out with a hamstring injury. That left Chris Bosh as the only remaining member of the core group that led the Heat to two NBA titles.
Mario Chalmers led the Heat with 23 points, while Bosh added 20 points and eight rebounds.
ROCKETS 88, 76ERS 87
James Harden scored 35 points, including an off-balance layup with nine seconds left, to lead the Houston Rockets to an 88-87 victory over the winless Philadelphia 76ers.
The Sixers led by one point before Michael Carter-Williams bounced the ball off his foot and out of bounds to give Houston the ball. Harden then powered through the lane to hit the game-winner.
Philadelphia had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but Carter-Williams missed a jump shot.
Tony Wroten scored 19 for the Sixers, who led for most of the game after an embarrassing 53-point loss to Dallas the previous night.
The Sixers remained the NBA’s only winless team, dropping to 0-9 for their worst start since opening the 1972-73 season with 15 consecutive losses.
PISTONS 96, THUNDER 89
Brandon Jennings scored eight points in overtime on his way to a 29-point night as the Detroit Pistons stopped a three-game losing streak with a 96-89 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Jennings scored 25 points in the second half as the Pistons also got their first road victory of the season and their first win at Oklahoma City since the franchise moved from Seattle. It also snapped a 10-game Thunder winning streak in the series.
Jennings also had five rebounds, five assists, no turnovers and stellar defence on Thunder point guard Reggie Jackson, who only scored eight points after a 12-point first quarter.
The Thunder (3-7) were missing superstars Russell Westbrook (hand) and Kevin Durant (foot) and only dressed 10 players.
SPURS 93, LAKERS 80
Tim Duncan had 13 points and 11 rebounds and Cory Joseph scored eight of his 14 points in the fourth quarter as San Antonio beat Los Angeles on one of the worst shooting nights of Kobe Bryant’s 19-year NBA career.
Kawhi Leonard scored 12 points for the defending NBA champions, who added a comfortable win over the 1-8 Lakers to their victories over the Clippers and Warriors earlier in the week.
San Antonio pulled away in the fourth quarter for its eighth win in 11 meetings with the Lakers.
Bryant scored nine points for the Lakers, going 1 for 14 fro the field. The NBA’s leading scorer missed his first 10 shots and all five of his 3-point attempts.
Originally published as NBA 2014-15: Dante Exum’s Utah Jazz beat New York Knicks with buzzer beater
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