The OKC Thunder were overran late by an undermanned Miami Heat 111-112 despite Josh Giddey recording his sixth career triple-double.
Giddey finished with 18 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists and also became just the fourth player in NBA history to record 1,000 points, 700 rebounds and 500 assists in his first 100 games – joining Lua Doncic, Ben Simmons and George Hill.
It came in a contest the Heat shot an NBA-record 40-for-40 from the free throw line without a miss including a clutch go-ahead and-one from Jimmy Butler, who played a big part in the feat with 23-of-23 conversion at the swipe.
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Wed, 11 Jan
Wednesday January 11th
It broke the old record of 39-for-39 made by Utah against Portland in 1982.
Butler ended with 35 points and also racked up seven rebounds, four assists, four steals and three blocks.
Miami trailed 111-106 with less than a minute remaining but fought back with a Victor Oladipo three-pointer and a Butler layup to tie the game.
Kenrich Williams then missed a pair of free throws, leading to Butler’s epic and-one play with 12.2 remaining.
OKC had one last chance to win the game, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s three-pointer bounced off the rim before a scramble for possession resulted in a jump ball with 0.8 left in a wild finish.
It proved to not be enough time for either side to get possession as the final buzzer sounded to signal a big Heat victory.
Gilgeous-Alexander topscored for the OKC with 26, adding four rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Earlier, Dewayne Dedmon was ejected for throwing a massage gun onto the court after an argument with Heat officials including coach Erik Spoelstra in a bizarre sequence.
Miami improved to 22-20 with the win while the Thunder fell to 18-23.
EMBIID RETURNS AGAINST PISTONS, HARDEN TRIPLE-DOUBLES AGAIN
Joel Embiid returned from injury to deliver a 36-point performance as the Philadelphia 76ers thrashed the injury-hit Detroit Pistons 147-116.
The 28-year-old Sixers ace had missed three straight games with a minor foot injury heading into Wednesday’s Eastern Conference clash in Philadelphia.
But the two-time MVP runner-up looked back to his dominant self in just 23 minutes on court as Philadelphia romped to a 147-116 victory at the Wells Fargo Center.
Embiid’s points tally came from 12-of-20 shooting, while the Sixers big man also chipped in with 11 rebounds and two blocks.
James Harden and Tyrese Maxey added 16 points each while Tobias Harris had 14 points as Philadelphia led from start to finish to improve to 25-15.
Harden’s points tally was part of a second straight triple double. The 10-time All-Star added 12 rebounds and 15 assists.
ALL RESULTS
PISTONS 116 76ERS 147
THUNDER 111 HEAT 112
HORNETS 120 RAPTORS 132
CAVALIERS – JAZZ
SUNS – WARRIORS
MAGIC – TRAIL BLAZERS
