Heat unable to stop rolling Jazz, KD triumphant in return to Golden State

MANILA, Philippines — The Utah Jazz remain unstoppable after beating the Miami Heat, 112-94, as the NBA season rolled on Saturday (Sunday, Manila time).

It marked the Jazz’s 18th win in their last 19 contests, and helped them hold on to the top spot in the West longer with the Los Angeles Lakers lagging a game behind.

The Jazz bucked a slow start where they were left playing catch up with Kendrick Nunn leading the Heat on offense.

A 14-0 run by the Jazz in the tailend of the second salvo turned the tide towards their favor and helped them hold the advantage coming into half time, 47-42.

The Jazz would then begin the second half with 16 unanswered points to blow the game wide open, 63-42.

Stingy defense held the Heat scoreless for a whopping six minutes in the third quarter.

Donovan Mitchell paced the Jazz anew with 26 points while Bojan Bogdanovic chipped in with 19 markers.

Fil-Am guard Jordan Clarkson had 11 points off of the bench.

Meanwhile, Kevin Durant had a triumphant return to the Bay Area with the Brooklyn Nets routing the Golden State Warriors, 134-117.

The former Warrior tallied 20 points in his first game against Golden State since leaving the team in 2019.

Kyrie Irving topscored for the Nets in the lopsided win with 23 markers. All five starters for the Nets finished in double digit scoring.

Stephen Curry paced Golden State in the losing effort with 27 points.

In the other games, the Phoenix Suns tallied their fifth win in a row after besting the Philadelphia 76ers, 120-111.

Devin Booker had a game-high 36-point performance to pace the Suns while Chris Paul tallied 18 markers.

Joel Embiid had 35 points for the Sixers.

The Indiana Pacers, for their part, bested the slumping Atlanta Hawks, 125-113.

Meanwhile, the New York Knicks neared the .500 mark after blowing out the Houston Rockets, 121-99 to improve to 13-15.