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Patty Mills helps Rozier and Butler topple Cavaliers

Staff WritersAP
Miami Heat guard Patty Mills drives against Cleveland's Caris LeVert in the three-point win. (AP PHOTO)
Camera IconMiami Heat guard Patty Mills drives against Cleveland's Caris LeVert in the three-point win. (AP PHOTO) Credit: AP

Terry Rozier scored nine points in the final 1:24, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 14.5 on the clock, to lift the Miami Heat to a 107-104 victory over Cleveland Cavaliers.

Rozier converted a 4-point play before sinking a 26 footer that gave Miami a 105-102 lead. After Georges Niang made two free throws for the Cavaliers, Rozier followed with two of his own with 2.8 seconds remaining.

Darius Garland had a chance to force overtime, but his off-balance, 3-point attempt was off the mark as Cleveland lost their third straight home game.

Jimmy Butler scored 30 points and Rozier finished with 24, helping Miami pull within one-half game of Philadelphia for the sixth and final automatic playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

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Nikola Jovic added 14 points while Boomers veteran Patty Mills, who scored 10 points, added two steals.

In Oklahoma, the Thunder proved too strong for the visiting Utah Jazz.

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Chet Holmgren scored 35 points and tied a career high with 14 rebounds as the hosts beat the short-handed Jazz 119-107.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 of his 31 points in the second half for the Thunder, who have the best record in the Western Conference at 48-20.

Alexander became the 13th player in NBA history to score 30 points or more in 50 games.

Australian Josh Giddey, enjoying 26 minutes of game time, played his part too with 11 rebounds, eight assists and five points.

Boomers teammate Duop Reath, however, couldn't stop the LA Clippers from posting a 116-103 victory in Portland.

Reath had eight points to go with two rebounds and one assist in his 16 minutes on court for the Trail Blazers.

In San Francisco, Stephen Curry reached 300 3-pointers for an NBA-record fifth season and scored 14 points with four 3s as Golden State beat Memphis 137-116.

"He gonna do it again next year. I'm not surprised," teammate Chris Paul said. "It's easy for him, he shoots the life out of the ball, takes care of his body."

Grayson Allen scored 32 points and tied a career-high with nine 3-pointers, leading the Phoenix Suns to a 115-102 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Allen made 10 of 17 shots from the field, including 9 of 15 from long range. Kevin Durant added 22 points for the Suns while Devin Booker had 18 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists, falling just shy of his first regular-season triple double.

Jayson Tatum scored 31 points to help Boston win their seventh game in a row, taking advantage of the absence of two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo to beat Milwaukee 122-119.

Although the game featured two East division leaders, the Celtics hold an 11-game edge over the second-seeded Bucks in the race for home-court advantage.

Any other juice in the matchup was lost when Antetokounmpo was ruled out for the second straight game with a left hamstring problem.

In other matches, the Detroit Pistons went down 122-103 to the Indiana Pacers while the Sacramento Kings trounced the Toronto Raptors 123-89 away.

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