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Jazz beat Heat for 7th straight victory

Melissa Majchrzak / National Basketball Association / Getty

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points to lead the Utah Jazz to their seventh consecutive victory, 112-94 over the Miami Heat on Saturday night.

Bojan Bogdanovic added 19 points and Rudy Gobert had 16 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks for the Jazz. Georges Niang chipped in 14 points and a career-high five assists.

Utah (22-5) has won 18 of its last 19 games since a 4-4 start.

Kendrick Nunn scored 20 points for Miami, which missed 11 straight shots to open the third quarter. Jimmy Butler added 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Bam Adebayo finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.

The Heat had a four-game winning streak snapped.

Mitchell made three straight baskets in just 58 seconds, including back-to-back reverse layups, to spark a 16-0 Jazz run to open the second half. Royce O’Neale capped the run with a steal and slam, giving Utah a 63-42 lead.

Miami did not score its first points of the second half until Tyler Herro hit a jumper with 5:51 left in the third quarter.

Miami led through the entire first quarter after jumping out to a 13-4 lead. Butler scored one basket and assisted three others to give the Heat the early advantage.

Utah struggled to build any consistent rhythm on offense during the opening quarter against a tenacious Heat defense, going 1 for 12 from 3-point range.

The shots started falling in the second quarter. Utah scored baskets on six straight possessions early in the period and tied it at 31 on a layup from Bogdanovic. Jordan Clarkson scored a basket and assisted on four others during that stretch.

Herro and Max Strus scored back-to-back baskets to make it 36-31 the Heat then missed eight straight shots and went six minutes without scoring.

Utah answered with a 14-0 run in that stretch to take a 45-36 lead. The Jazz finally went ahead for the first time on back-to-back baskets from O’Neale and Clarkson.

TIP-INS

Heat: Goran Dragic (left ankle sprain) and Avery Bradley (right calf strain) did not travel with the team to Utah. … Strus is averaging 18.0 points over his last two games. He scored 15 against the Jazz. … Kelly Olynyk finished with 10 rebounds.

Jazz: Mike Conley missed his fourth straight game (right hamstring tightness). … Gobert’s half-court heave at the first-quarter buzzer was his first 3-point field goal attempt since the 2016-17 season. He is 0 for 4 from 3-point range for his career. … Utah outscored Miami 13-2 in second-chance points and 20-10 in fast-break points.

UP NEXT

Heat: Visit the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday.

Jazz: Host the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday.

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More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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