NBA roundup: Jimmy Butler leads Heat; T.J. Warren’s 53 points carry Pacers
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo each scored 22 points to help the Miami Heat beat the Denver Nuggets 125-105 on Saturday in the first restart game for both teams.
Kelly Olynyk scored all 20 of his points in the fourth quarter for the Heat, who shot 56% from the field.
Nikola Jokic and Jerami Grant each scored 19 points for Denver. The Nuggets played without guards Jamal Murray (hamstring), Will Barton (knee) and Gary Harris (hip). Murray ranks second on the team with 18.8 points per game.
Denver also did not get a full training camp because of coronavirus cases on the team.
Orlando forward Jonathan Isaac declined to kneel for the national anthem before an NBA game because of religious beliefs, not a disagreement with BLM.
“It’s still unacceptable,†Nuggets guard Torrey Craig said. “If you’re out there, you have to play your best and you’ve got to compete. You don’t make any excuses, no matter how many guys you have.â€
Heat center Meyers Leonard stood during the national anthem, saying it was out of respect for the U.S. military, while all the coaches and players around him kneeled. His brother, Bailey Leonard, served two tours in Afghanistan with the Marines. Leonard wore a Black Lives Matter T-shirt over a jersey with the word “Equality.â€
Denver led 57-56 at halftime, but Miami outscored the Nuggets 38-22 in the third quarter.
Pacers 127, 76ers 121: T.J. Warren scored a career-high 53 points, Victor Oladipo added 15 after reversing course on opting out of the NBA restart, and Indiana beat Philadelphia.
A sixth-year player acquired from Phoenix in an offseason trade, Warren was 20 for 29 from the field and nine for 12 from three-point range in his first game with at least 50 points.
The Pacers took control of the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference by breaking a tie with the 76ers and winning the season series. Both teams have clinched playoff spots.
The Lakers struggled on offense and lost 107-92 to the Raptors on Saturday night, missing a chance to clinch the top seed in the Western Conference.
Joel Embiid had 41 points and 21 rebounds for the Sixers, who couldn’t hang on after turning a 10-point deficit late in the first half into a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter.
Thunder 110, Jazz 94: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 19 points, Chris Paul added 18, and Oklahoma City rolled past Utah in the Thunder’s first game of the restart.
The teams were to meet March 11 in Oklahoma City, but everything changed when Utah center Rudy Gobert’s COVID-19 test came up positive right before the tip. That night, the NBA announced it would shut down indefinitely.
Paul George sank eight three-pointers and had 28 points in leading the Clippers, who made a team-record 25 threes, to a 126-103 rout of the Pelicans.
Steven Adams had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and the Thunder shot 53% from the field. Oklahoma City moved within a half-game of Utah for fourth place in the Western Conference standings and within 1½ games of Denver for third.
Donovan Mitchell scored 13 points for the Jazz but shot just five for 15.
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