Trail Blazers rally to beat Heat 110-107 at buzzer
MIAMI - Josh Hart's 3-pointer as time expired gave the Portland Trail Blazers a 110-107 victory over the Miami Heat on Monday night.
Max Strus made a 3-pointer for Miami with 6.2 seconds remaining to tie the game. The Trail Blazers opted not to call timeout and Damian Lillard dribbled most of the way downcourt before finding Hart in the left corner near the Heat bench.
Hart hit the shot, and the Blazers ran off their bench to chase him in celebration.
Anfernee Simons scored 25 for Portland, Jerami Grant added 23 and Lillard finished with 19 points in his first game back after a four-game absence with a right calf strain. Hart and Justice Winslow each scored 12.
At 7-3, Portland is off to its best start since 2018-19.
Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Strus all had 16 for Miami. The Heat (4-7) got 15 from Kyle Lowry and Gabe Vincent, and 10 apiece from Caleb Martin and Dewayne Dedmon.
Simons was called for fouling Adebayo with 10.2 seconds left, but the Blazers argued that the Heat center actually was guilty of using his arm to hook Simons on the play. After review, the referees agreed and gave Portland the ball.
Simons made two free throws with 8.5 seconds left to push the lead to three before Strus tied it.
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: Portland snapped a four-game losing streak to Miami and hasn't lost consecutive games yet this season. ... The Blazers lost the lead with 10:39 left in the first half on a 3-pointer by Duncan Robinson, and trailed for the next 32:17 until Lillard tied the game with 2:20 left.
Heat: It was the 2,999th game in Heat history, including playoffs. ... Tyler Herro (sprained left ankle) and Udonis Haslem (personal reasons) were out, joining the still-sidelined Victor Oladipo (left knee) and Omer Yurtseven (left ankle). ... It was the start of a four-game homestand for Miami. The Heat won't have another one of those until late December.
SHOOT IT
Robinson's first 3-pointer on Monday was the 400th of his career, including playoffs, at FTX Arena. Mario Chalmers has the arena record with 418. Robinson now has 402.
SCHEDULE QUIRK
The Heat and Blazers played four times in 2022; last season's two meetings were in January. The only other time Miami and Portland had four games in the same calendar year was 1989.
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: Visit Charlotte on Wednesday.
Heat: Host Charlotte on Thursday.
