Rudy Gay nailed a buzzer-beating jump shot over LeBron James on Saturday to seal the Memphis Grizzlies’ 97-95 NBA victory over the star-studded Miami Heat.
The Grizzlies took advantage of the absence of injured Heat guard Dwyane Wade and the early exit of Udonis Haslem to snap a five-game losing streak.
James had knotted the score for the 12th time in the contest with less than six seconds remaining when he dunked off a steal by Eddie House.
Gay, stung by the steal, responded with the winning jump shot, which officials reviewed to determine it did beat the clock.
James said he did everything he could to keep Gay from making the shot.
“If he misses that shot, it’s great D [defense], we’re going to overtime,” James said. “If he makes it, it’s a great shot ... that was the best D we could have had.”
Wade sprained his left wrist in a fall on Friday — when he played while battling flu-like symptoms — and didn’t play.
Haslem went down in the third quarter and had to be carried off the floor to the locker room with what was described as a sprained left foot.
James finished with 29 points and 11 assists, and House had a season-high 20, but Miami lost for the first time in four games.
Memphis triumphed despite the absence for one quarter of Zach Randolph and OJ Mayo, who were denied their usual starting spots by coach Lionel Hollins for being late to the pre-game shoot-around.
Darrell Arthur and rookie Xavier Henry started in their places and Arthur had 12 of his 14 points in the first quarter.
Randolph had only two points and one rebound in the first half, but he finished by leading the Grizzlies with 21 points and 13 rebounds.
JAZZ 103, TRAILBLAZERS 94
In Portland, Oregon, C.J. Miles scored 25 points, hitting five three-pointers during an electric fourth-quarter comeback, as the Utah Jazz stunned the Portland Trailblazers.
Al Jefferson had 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Jazz, who have been the NBA’s best comeback team this season, with six fourth-quarter comeback wins.
Miles, who finished with a career-high seven 3-pointers, had 17 points in the fourth.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Blazers, who have dropped five in a row to Utah.
MAVERICKS 98, HAWKS 93
In Atlanta, Georgia, Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 points, including the two free throws that sealed the result, as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Atlanta Hawks 98-93 in the NBA on Saturday.
Jason Terry added 15 for the Mavericks.
Atlanta guard Joe Johnson couldn’t shake Tyson Chandler’s tight defense and misfired on a 3-point attempt that would have tied it with 2.5 seconds remaining.
Al Horford finished with 20 points and 20 rebounds for the Hawks.
In other NBA action, it was:
‧ Spurs 116, Cavaliers 92
‧ Thunder 82, Bucks 81
‧ Magic 90, Pacers 86
‧ Bobcats 123, Suns 105
‧ Nuggets 107, Nets 103
‧ Knicks 124, Clippers 115
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