03/21/26 09:53:00
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03/21 21:51 CDT Durant passes Jordan, then Thompson tips in the winner in
Rockets' 123-122 victory over Heat
Durant passes Jordan, then Thompson tips in the winner in Rockets' 123-122
victory over Heat
By KRISTIE RIEKEN
AP Sports Writer
HOUSTON (AP) --- Kevin Durant scored 27 points to move past Michael Jordan for
fifth place on the NBA's career scoring list and Amen Thompson had a tip-in at
the buzzer to lift the Houston Rockets to a 123-122 win over the Miami Heat on
Saturday night.
Durant's shot for the win bounced off the rim and Thompson tipped it in to give
Houston the thrilling victory. Durant has 32,294 points in his career, two more
than Jordan.
Miami trailed by eight before using a 9-2 run, with a 3 from Simon Fontecchio,
to get within 119-118 with 46.3 seconds to go. Reed Sheppard made a shot in the
lane to push the lead to 121-118 with 12.7 seconds left.
Bam Adebayo made two free throws after that before Jabari Smith Jr. was called
for goaltending on a layup by Fontecchio to put the Heat on top 122-121 with
5.4 seconds remaining and set up the wild ending.
Adebayo had 32 points and tied a career high with 21 rebounds for the Heat, who
dropped their fourth straight. Adebayo's big rebounding night came after he had
the second-highest scoring game in NBA history when he scored 83 points in a
win over the Wizards on March 10.
The Rockets were up by two when Durant made consecutive 3-pointers to make it
117-109. He moved past Jordan on the second and briefly lifted his arms in
triumph after draining the shot.
The Heat were up by 11 early in the fourth before Houston used a 15-0 run, with
two 3-pointers from Jabari Smith Jr. and one each from Sheppard and Aaron
Holiday, to take a 106-102 lead with less than seven minutes remaining.
Fontecchio snapped a four-minute scoring drought for Miami after that, but
Holiday hit another 3 seconds later to leave the Rockets up 109-105 midway
through the quarter.
Up next
Heat: Visit San Antonio on Monday night.
Rockets: Begin a four-game road trip Monday night at Chicago.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
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