Hawks give 4 players rest, still top Heat 93-91
Miami Heat forward Luol Deng (9) tries to get past Atlanta Hawks guard Kent Bazemore (24) in the first quarter of their NBA basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015 in Miami. AP
MIAMI, United States — Paul Millsap scored 22 points, Dennis Schroder added 16 points and 10 assists and the intentionally depleted Atlanta Hawks still had enough to beat the Miami Heat 93-91 in the NBA on Saturday night.
Kent Bazemore scored 15, including a big 3-pointer with about a minute left that gave the Hawks an 89-80 lead. John Jenkins scored 12 for Atlanta, which turned 23 Miami turnovers into 31 points.
Dwyane Wade scored 22 points for Miami, which still remains in the No. 7 spot in the Eastern Conference race. Hassan Whiteside finished with 14 points and tied a season high with 24 rebounds for Miami, which also got 16 points from Mario Chalmers and 10 from Henry Walker.
The Hawks rested four regulars — Al Horford didn’t even make the trip because his wife just had a baby, while Pero Antic, DeMarre Carroll and Jeff Teague were all given the night off.
“Just working our way through the season,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said, “and trying to keep us in a good place health-wise.”
Heat turnovers
By halftime, the Hawks led 43-33, the Heat having more turnovers (14) than baskets (12). Atlanta then came out and scored the first eight of the third quarter, stretching the lead to 18 and looking completely poised for a runaway.
But Miami went on a 29-14 spurt over the next 11 minutes, getting within 65-62 when Goran Dragic made a pair of free throws with 9:58 left to keep it tight.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 22 points, Langston Galloway made a clinching 3-pointer and the New York Knicks ended a sad day for the franchise with a 103-98 victory over Toronto, the Raptors’ season-high fifth straight loss.
After beginning the night with a moment of silence for former Knicks forward Anthony Mason, who died Saturday at 48, the team finished it by celebrating its second straight victory.
Former Raptors center Andrea Bargnani scored 19 points and newcomer Alexei Shved had 15 for the Knicks.
Raptors, Chicago tie
Lou Williams scored 22 points for the Raptors, who fell into a tie with Chicago for second place in the Eastern Conference and are just a half-game ahead of Cleveland for fourth.
Marc Gasol had 27 points and 11 rebounds, and Mike Conley hit a big 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to lift the Memphis Grizzlies to a much-needed 101-97 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Gasol scored nine straight points in the final 4 minutes, and Conley’s 3 from the wing broke a 95-all tie. Conley finished with 17 points and hit two free throws with 11 seconds left for Memphis.
Andrew Wiggins scored 25 points and Ricky Rubio had 13 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds for the Wolves. But Kevin Garnett was ejected early in the third quarter of his second game back in a Wolves uniform after picking up his second technical foul.
Also Saturday, the Utah Jazz held off the Milwaukee Bucks 82-75, the San Antonio Spurs routed the Phoenix Suns 101-74, the Brooklyn Nets topped the Dallas Mavericks 104-94 and the Washington Wizards downed the Detroit Pistons 99-95.
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