DPA/Los Angeles
LeBron James’ worst game of the season was not a good one for the Miami Heat, either. James was held to a season-low 13 points Saturday night and the Heat were dealt a surprising 94-89 road loss by the Utah Jazz, who got 23 points from Marvin Williams.
Rookie Trey Burke made a clutch jumper in the final minute and scored 13 points for Utah, which ended a four-game losing streak and beat Miami at home for the third straight season.
The unquestioned leader of the two-time defending NBA champions, James has won the Most Valuable Player award four of the last five years. He came into the game shooting a career-high 57.7 percent from the field and had shot less than 40 percent in a game just twice this season.
Third in the league in scoring at 26.3 points per game, James managed just half that, matching his season low from a win over Atlanta on Nov. 19. He also made just 4-of-13 shots, his worst percentage in any game this season.
The Heat (35-14) never led in the last 23 minutes and were held to their lowest total since a 90-84 loss at Indiana on December 10. The NBA’s best shooting team at 51 percent, Miami shot just 43 per cent (29-of-67).
Utah (17-33) squandered a 14-point first-half advantage but took the lead for good shortly after James’ last basket of the game at 57-54 on a three-pointer by Burke early in the third quarter. Two three-pointers by Williams built the margin to 87-79 with 3:33 to play before the Heat staged a late rally, closing to 91-89 on a three-pointer by Ray Allen with 46 seconds remaining.
With the shot clock winding down, Burke drained a jumper to make it a two-possession game with 24 seconds left.
Elsewhere, San Antonio Spurs beat Charlotte Bobcats 104-100. Australian Patty Mills came off the bench to score 18 of his career-high 32 points in the fourth quarter as the Spurs improved to 3-1 on their nine-game “Rodeo” road trip. Al Jefferson scored 26 points for the Bobcats.
Phoenix Suns eased past Golden State Warriors 122-109. Slovenia’s Goran Dragic scored 34 points and handed out 10 assists as the host Suns hurdled the Warriors into second place in the Pacific Division. Stephen Curry had 28 points and nine assists for Golden State.
Portland Trail Blazers beat Minnesota Timberwolves 117- 110: LaMarcus Aldridge scored 26 points as the Trail Blazers completed a 2-2 road trip. Spain’s Ricky Rubio had a season-high 25 points for the Timberwolves, who were without All-Star Kevin Love and Montenegro’s Nikola Pekovic.
Houston Rockets scored a 101-95 win over Milwaukee Bucks 95, while Memphis Grizzlies edged past Atlanta Hawks 79-76.
In other match, Detroit Pistons had the better of Denver Nuggets 126-109.
