Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) jumps to pass, while defended by Utah Jazz forward Rudy Gay, center left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, March 13, 2023, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) MIAMI (AP) — Another night, another close game for Miami. Jimmy Butler scored 24 points to lead seven Miami players in double figures, Tyler Herro and Gabe Vincent each scored 18 and the Heat held off the Utah Jazz 119-115 on Monday night. It was Miami’s 24th win by five points or less this season. “When it gets into those moments of truth, I’ve said this before, at least we understand what our package is and what we’re trying to do, how we want to execute,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We’ve had so many reps and film sessions and walkthroughs and teaching points … I think we’ve all gotten better from that, including the coaching staff.” Bam Adebayo scored 16 for Miami, while Victor Oladipo and Kevin Love each had 11 and Caleb Martin scored 10. Lauri Markkanen scored 38 for Utah, which got 23 from Simone Fontecchio and 14 from Ochai Agbaji. Miami was 31 for 36 from the foul line,

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Talen Horton-Tucker scored a season-high 37 points and had 10 assists and nine rebounds as the Utah Jazz defeated the Charlotte Hornets 119-111 on Saturday night for their second straight win. Walker Kessler added 17 points and 16 rebounds and Kelly Olynyk had 17 points for the Jazz, who outrebounded the Hornets 60-43. Lauri Markkanen had 13 points and 13 rebounds. Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 24 points and Terry Rozier added 22 for the Hornets, who had their two-game win streak snapped. The Jazz (33-35) entered the night a half-game behind the New Orleans Pelicans for the 10th spot in the Western Conference. Horton-Tucker has been pressed into the primary ball-handling role of late because of injuries — and responded in a big way against the Hornets (22-47) while dominating the game from the outset. Nearly everything was falling from floaters to mid-range jumpers to 3-pointers for Horton-Tucker, who finished 14 of 24 from the field. His previous season high was 23 points. He had a career-high 40 last season against Golden State. The Jazz never trailed and took a 58-49 lead into halftime after getting 15 points from Horton-Tucker, including a spin move in the

Utah Jazz’s Simone Fontecchio, right, makes a move to get around Orlando Magic’s Franz Wagner, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, March 9, 2023, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux) ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Lauri Markkanen scored 31 points, Talen Horton-Tucker added 23 and the Utah Jazz snapped a four-game losing streak with a 131-124 win over the Orlando Magic on Thursday night. Simone Fontecchio scored 17 points for Utah, and rookie Walker Kessler’s 13 points and 10 rebounds included a crucial three-point play with 35 seconds left after the Magic had cut their deficit to one point. Paolo Banchero scored 13 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter for the Magic, who lost their third straight. Markelle Fultz had 25 points and six assists and Franz Wagner added 24 points for Orlando. Utah made its first six shots of the second half — two by Markkannen — to extend its lead to 15 points, its largest of the game. Fultz responded with 13 points over the next seven minutes, leading a 29-10 outburst that gave the Magic a four point lead. The Jazz led by a point early in the fourth quarter when

Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving, front, drives to the basket past Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) and Talen Horton-Tucker (0) in the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 7, 2023, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) DALLAS (AP) — Kyrie Irving hit a clutch 3-pointer and scored 17 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter, and Luka Doncic added 29 points and 10 rebounds as the Dallas Mavericks beat the short-handed Utah Jazz 120-116 Tuesday night. Utah trailed 118-115 with 3.7 seconds to play when Talen Horton-Tucker was fouled and sent to the line for two shots. After sinking the first, his intentional miss slammed directly off the backboard and didn’t hit the rim, giving Dallas possession. “Just aimed too high,” Horton-Tucker said. “I wanted to hit the back rim.” Irving’s 3-pointer from the right side gave Dallas a 112-108 lead with 2:33 to play and was part of an 8-0 run that put the Mavericks ahead 115-108. Dallas (34-32) began the day in seventh place in the West and finished the night tied for fifth place, improving to 3-5 in games in which both Irving and Doncic have played. Irving went into play leading the

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins (21) grabs a rebound near, from left to right, Thunder forward Ousmane Dieng, Utah Jazz center Damian Jones and Thunder guard Tre Mann during the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March, 3, 2023, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings) OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Aaron Wiggins scored 27 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Utah Jazz 130-103 on Friday night to snap a five-game losing streak. The Thunder hadn’t won since Feb. 15 — their final game before the All-Star break. They never trailed in this one. “It feels good,” Wiggins said. “We felt like we had hit a wall coming off All-Star break. He had a couple losses in a row. Some of them were at the tip of our hands where we should have pulled through and won. “Tonight, it was all about just trying to make sure that we stayed locked in on the way that we played, stayed true to what we do.” Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, an All-Star who averages 31 points, missed his fourth straight game. He was out due to health and safety protocols and an abdominal strain. The Thunder made up for

San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan (10) battles Utah Jazz guard Kris Dunn (11) for a.loose ball during the second half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Keldon Johnson scored 23 points and the San Antonio Spurs snapped a 16-game losing streak, beating the Utah Jazz 102-94 on Tuesday night. Doug McDermott added 19 points for the Spurs, Jeremy Sochan had 13 and Devonte Graham 12. San Antonio improved to 15-47, winning for the first time this season after trailing to start the fourth quarter. Lauri Markkanen had 28 points and nine rebounds for Utah. Walker Kessler added 10 points and 15 rebounds, Talen Horton-Tucker had 16 points and Kris Dunn added 11. Blake Wesley, McDermott and Graham made 3-pointers to fuel an 11-0 run that erased a double-digit deficit early in the fourth and gave the Spurs an 88-82 lead. Horton-Tucker tied it game on back-to-back 3-pointers. The Jazz took a 92-91 lead on Dunn’s driving layup, but Johnson countered with a pair of baskets to put San Antonio up 98-93 with 2:06 remaining. Utah did not score a basket over the final three