Miami Heat of America sensation, Bam Adebayo ended as his team’s third best scorer in their victory over Boston Celtics in USA’s National Basketball Association (NBA) league, megasportsarena.com reports.
Adebayo’s 20 points on the night fell behind the haul pooled in by Jimmy Butler, who had 26 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds to help The Heat stave off The Celtics 130-124 in a battle for pole position in the NBA’s Eastern Conference tight play-off race.
Duncan Robinson added 22 points and Adebayo had 20 for Miami, who increased their lead over Boston to two games for sixth place in the standings, with the top eight to progress to the post-season.
Adebayo was also behind another player on the overall cards of both sides, as Evan Fournier scored 30 points for Boston in what was the first of two straight games between the two sides, as odds counting tumbling heading into the play-off spots.
Elsewhere in the NBA, Dallas Mavericks won 124-97 away to Cleveland Cavaliers, New Orleans Pelicans beat Charlotte Hornets 112-110, Minnesota Timberwolves secured a 128-96 win on the road to Orlando Magic, Chicago Bulls saw off Detroit Pistons 108-96 and Sacramento Kings beat visiting Oklahoma City Thunder 126-98.
On the same night, Anthony Davis scored 42 points and 12 rebounds in LeBron James’ absence to lead Los Angeles Lakers to a 123-110 win over Phoenix Suns, as the home side jumped to a 59-47 lead at half-time and held on comfortably.
With James missing his fourth straight game due to a sprained ankle, Davis led the way, while Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Alex Caruso each had 17 points as the defending champions, who cling to seventh in the Western Conference, won for just the third time in their past 11 games.
Cameron Payne recorded 24 points for the second-placed Suns, Devin Booker registered 21 points and Mikal Bridges 15, while Derrick Rose scored 25 points off the bench as New York Knicks won 106-100 at Los Angeles Clippers.
Reggie Bullock had 24 points, including five three-pointers, while RJ Barrett claimed 18 points as The Knicks – fourth in the Eastern Conference – snapped an eight-game losing streak at Staples Centre, as Kawhi Leonard scored 29 points and Paul George 18 as the playoff-bound Clippers’ two-game winning streak ended in its home finale of the regular season.
