Jimmy Butler scored 33 points, grabbed nine rebounds, and handed out six assists as the Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks 123-118 in overtime on Sunday night.
Kyrie Irving led the Mavericks with 27 points and six assists. P.J. Washington contributed 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Naji Marshall scored 19 of his 20 points in the second half. Dereck Lively II had a double-double with 14 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, and two blocks.
Klay Thompson, who had struggled with shooting in Dallas’ win over Denver on Friday, bounced back with 15 points on 5-for-12 shooting.
The Mavericks played without Luka Dončić, the reigning NBA scoring champion, who was sidelined with a wrist injury.
Miami, which had been off since Monday, had strong performances from Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro. Adebayo finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Herro added 18 points and 10 rebounds.
The Heat took the lead for good on Adebayo’s 3-pointer, making it 120-118 with 2:54 left in overtime. Dallas missed its final seven shots, and after Lively’s dunk gave the Mavericks a brief 118-117 lead with 3:21 remaining, Miami held on.
Adebayo was 3-of-6 from beyond the arc as the Heat shot 34.1 percent (14-of-41) from 3-point range. Dallas, on the other hand, hit just 10 of 40 threes (25 percent) and shot 41.9 percent overall.
Dallas’ first lead since the opening quarter came when Irving hit a 3-pointer to make it 106-103 with 4:34 left in the game. The Mavericks held a one-point lead when Irving stepped to the free-throw line with 8.2 seconds left but made only 1 of 2 free throws, leaving the door open for Miami.
Butler took advantage, dunking off a pass from Duncan Robinson with 4.3 seconds left, tying the game and sending it to overtime after Spencer Dinwiddie’s last-second 3-point attempt missed.
Dinwiddie finished with seven points but had a rough shooting night, going 1-for-12 from the field, including 0-for-9 from 3-point range.
The game saw three lead changes in the first quarter, which ended with Miami ahead 33-28. Dallas missed its last six shots of the period, allowing the Heat to close the quarter on a 9-0 run.
Miami shot poorly in the second quarter, hitting only 28.6 percent of their shots, including 1-for-10 from beyond the arc. Despite this, they led 56-51 at halftime.
Both teams scored 23 points in the second quarter, and the third period ended in a 33-33 tie, leaving Miami with an 89-84 advantage heading into the final quarter.
