The Miami Heat looked like the team that won the NBA Finals last year in the fourth quarter, but issues in the other three sealed their fate on the road as they fell to the Utah Jazz Monday Night at EnergySolutions Arena.
Heat vs. Jazz final score:Jazz survive 4th-quarter barrage, 104-97
The Jazz exposed Miami’s deficiencies inside and won the rebounding margin convincingly, 40-23, en route to the home win.
Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports
Utah (21-19) led by as many as 21 points and was up by 19 points going into the final quarter when the Heat (24-12) began to mount a furious comeback behind LeBron James' nine points. He finished the game with 32 points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals.
Gordon Hayward helped the Jazz withstand the barrage by Miami and sealed the home win with a pair of free throws and a fadeaway jumper with 40 seconds left. Al Jefferson led Utah with 23 points and added 11 rebounds.
The Jazz used a sharp-shooting first half to pull away from the defending NBA champs and shot an uncanny 67.6 percent from the field and went 5-of-7 from the three-point line. The Jazz led by as many as 17 points in the first half alone.
But the fourth quarter was all Miami, and the Heat used the transition game to respond to their first-half issues and give themselves a shot to steal the victory in one of the toughest places to play in the NBA.
Utah will face the Cleveland Cavaliers after a long stretch off on Saturday, while Miami will travel to the Bay Area to take on the Golden State Warriors Wednesday night.
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