The Miami Heat beat the defending champion Golden State Warriors 116-109.
Jimmy Butler III’s driving layup put the Heat ahead for good with 1:48 left in the fourth quarter.
Butler’s 16-foot pull-up jumper with 9.5 seconds left made it 114-109 and put it away.
During clutch time, the Heat outscored the Warriors 12-2. Butler (No. 3 in clutch points, 2022-23) scored 5 of the Heat’s 12 on 2 for 3 shooting and 1 for 1 at the line. In the fourth quarter, Kyle Lowry had 4 of his 9 assists, 1 of them on a basket by Duncan Robinson that tied the game. In that stretch, Gabe Vincent had 2 steals, one of them leading to Robinson’s pull-up 3-pointer that tied the game at 100, and the Heat scored 3 points off them. With 2:41 left, Bam Adebayo stole the ball from Draymond Green, and Lowry’s driving layup off it put the Heat ahead 109-107.
Max Strus scored 24 points (12 on 4 3-pointers) off the bench. Butler added 23 points and 8 assists, and Adebayo had 19 points, 6 assists and 3 steals.
For the Warriors, Stephen Curry had 23 points (12 on 4 3-pointers), 13 rebounds and 13 assists, his first triple-double of the season, and Jordan Poole went 1 for 7 from 3. Andrew Wiggins scored 21 points on 8 for 12 shooting.
The Warriors committed 20 turnovers to the Heat’s 15. The Heat were outscored 28-14 in 6 minutes with Lowry, Butler, Adebayo, Martin and Strus on the floor together.