MIAMI, (Reuters) – Paul Millsap scored a career-high 46 points and led the Utah Jazz to a stunning 116-114 comeback overtime victory over the Miami Heat that spoiled a big night for LeBron James and Dwyane Wade on Tuesday.
The Jazz, who overcame a 22-point deficit, forced overtime with Millsap’s putback at the buzzer en route to handing the Heat (5-3) their first home loss of the season.
Utah’s win overshadowed a 39-point night from Dwyane Wade and a triple-double from LeBron James, who had 20 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds.
“It’s a lesson hopefully we’ll learn, that when you have an opportunity to keep grinding and close teams out you have to take advantage,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters.
“It’s not about the end. We had an opportunity to take control and weren’t able to do it.”
Miami were 21 points ahead in the second half and led by eight with less than a minute to play before Millsap drained three straight three-pointers to pull the visitors close.
At the end of a back-and-forth OT session, Francisco Elson was fouled with less than a second to play and converted both free throws to clinch a fourth win in five games for Utah (4-3).
Deron Williams had 21 points and 14 assists before fouling out in the fourth while Chris Bosh put up 17 points and nine rebounds for the Heat.
Miami went into the contest as one of the best defensive teams in the NBA, holding each of their opponents to under 100 points, but they surrendered 72 points to Utah in the final two quarters of regulation.
