LOS ANGELES, 25 December 2004 — Down the stretch, the Miami Heat caught fire.
Long-distance sharpshooter Damon Jones drilled the game-winning 3-pointer with 23 seconds left to cap a 20-6 closing run, and Shaquille O’Neal made a crucial block as the visiting Heat burned the Sacramento Kings, 109-107 on Thursday night for their 10th consecutive victory.
“It’s a great feeling, not only for myself, but our basketball team,” said Jones, who finished with 18 points, including four 3- pointers. “We’re on a great roll right now and we did it at the end tonight.”
O’Neal had 25 points and 10 rebounds as Miami moved within one game of matching the all-time club mark for consecutive victories set during the 1996-97 season.
“We just played good team ball, we just hung in there and we played good defense,” said O’Neal, who missed the previous game with a bruised left calf. “Damon Jones came up with some big shots and we were able to win in a tough place.”
Dwyane Wade collected 22 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, while Eddie Jones chipped in with 21 points as the Heat improved their Eastern Conference best record to 21-7.
Chris Webber scored 26 points, Mike Bibby had 21 and Peja Stojakovic finished with 19 for Sacramento, which blew a 12-point lead with less than six minutes left. The Kings played without top sixth man Bobby Jackson, who will miss three months after undergoing wrist surgery.
Maurice Evans, filling in for Jackson, had 12 points and eight rebounds.
“We played solid enough,” he said. “Peja hit a big-time shot but Damon Jones came back and answered it. I’m disappointed that we blew opportunities to close out this game.”
Stojakovic nailed a 3-pointer to give the Kings a 107-106 lead with 35 seconds left in the game. But Jones, who had eight points in the pivotal finishing kick, answered with his final 3-pointer of the game, and league-best 84th of the season from the right wing, which proved to be the game winner.
The Kings had chances in the final seconds but couldn’t capitalize. Brad Miller, who needed 15 stitches to close a gash over his shin when he collided with Wade, missed a baseline jumper. After O’Neal missed two free throws, he atoned by swatting Bibby’s layup attempt out of bounds at the other end.
With one last shot to claim victory, Webber’s 3-point try fell well short of the basket at the final buzzer.
“They’ve got a good team but it still hurts to lose like that,” Webber said. “We’ve just got to keep pushing away.”
Phoenix Suns 109 Memphis Grizzlies 102: Amare Stoudemire had 30 points, 11 rebounds and five steals, while Shawn Marion scored 29 points as the red-hot Suns held off the visiting Grizzlies to run their winning streak to a season-high 10 games.
“Not many teams in this league get to win ten games in a row, not many players can say they have won ten in a row and it’s a great accomplishment,” Suns point guard Steve Nash said. “I think our team should be proud but I think our team should see signs of complacency and we need to get a little more focused on this Christmas break.”
Nash had 17 points and 14 assists, along with four game-clinching free throws in the final 23 seconds as Phoenix improve its league-best record to 23-3.
Mike Miller, who hit his first nine shots, finished with 22 points but just three in the second half to pace Memphis. Jason Williams had 19 of his 21 points after intermission while Paul Gasol added 19.
The Grizzlies trailed 105-102 and had a chance to pull even. But Miller’s 3-point try was an air ball with 24 seconds left, and Nash sealed it from the free throw line.
San Antonio Spurs 96 Minnesota Timberwolves 82: Argentine sharpshooter Manu Ginobili scored 22 points, and the Spurs’ league-leading defense limited reigning Most Valuable Player Kevin Garnett to just one second-half basket en route to their 13th win in the last 15 games.
Tim Duncan had 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Frenchman Tony Parker scored 19 as well for San Antonio, (21-6), which outscored Minnesota 53-31 in the second half to overcome an early double-digit deficit.
Wally Szczerbiak netted 22 points, while Garnett finished with 15 points on four-of-16 shooting, along with 10 rebounds and nine assists in Minnesota’s fourth straight road loss.
