The question the preview left open got answered before tipoff: Lauri Markkanen sat again with the wrist sprain, so Utah played without Markkanen, Keyonte George, Jackson and Nurkic. That left the offense to the young wings, and they held up their end. Darryn Peterson led Utah again with 25 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, and Ace Bailey added 23 and 7. Those 2 were most of the reason the last 6 minutes got tense.
Miami got help from the backcourt this time. Davion Mitchell ran the offense with 19 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds, Pelle Larsson added 14 and 7, and the whole starting 5 finished in double figures for a combined 85 points. Klay Thompson and Bam Adebayo, the other 2 names the preview built around, didn't need a Sacramento-type night with Giannis and Mitchell carrying the scoring.
The game was decided in the middle 2 quarters. Miami won the 2nd 35-29 and the 3rd 28-18, and Utah's 18-point quarter was exactly the kind of stretch the preview worried about from a lineup that topped out at 27 in any quarter at Minnesota. The Heat led by as many as 23 and took a 92-72 lead into the 4th. At that point it looked like a blowout, and a lot of people had probably moved on to another game.
Then the Heat let it slip again. Utah won the 4th 37-23, got within 101-93 with 6 minutes left and kept pushing after that. It's the same thing that happened in Sacramento, where Miami blew a 16-point lead to a short-handed Kings team, and this time it came in the 5th straight road game on 1 day of rest. Miami held on, but for the 2nd game in a row a team missing its top players nearly came all the way back.
Miami goes home at 5-6 after a 3-2 trip and has won 2 straight, and Giannis looks completely fine with the wrist. Utah has now lost 5 straight and is 1-10, and the best news from Salt Lake is that Peterson and Bailey outscored a playoff-level frontcourt for a full quarter without the 4 veterans on the injury report. Until some of those 4 get back, a good 4th quarter is about the most the Jazz can count on.
