Oklahoma City Thunder @ Miami Heat
Friday, December 20, 2024 at 8:00 PM ET
Kaseya Center, Miami, FL | Game ID: 22400375
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
MIA 25 22 23 27 97OKC 30 20 31 23 104
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Jalen Williams scores 33 points, Thunder remain red-hot by topping Heat 104-97
MIAMI -- — Jalen Williams scored a season-high 33 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 25 and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Miami Heat 104-97 on Friday night for their seventh straight victory.
Lu Dort scored 14 points and Isaiah Hartenstein had 13 points and 18 rebounds for the Thunder, who improved to 22-5 — the second-best record in the NBA and tops in the Western Conference.
Oklahoma City's winning streak is alive because the NBA Cup final — a loss Tuesday night to Milwaukee in Las Vegas — doesn't count as a regular-season game.
Tyler Herro had 28 points and 12 rebounds for Miami, which got 17 points and 10 rebounds from Bam Adebayo .
The Heat lost Jimmy Butler to illness in the first quarter and briefly lost Adebayo in the third quarter when he got elbowed over an eye by teammate Jaime Jaquez Jr . Adebayo needed seven stitches but returned.
Takeaways Thunder: Williams' previous season high was 31. And the big difference for the Thunder was turnovers — they turned 19 Miami giveaways into 27 points.
Heat: Managing general partner Micky Arison and senior director of team development Ruth Riley Hunter — an NCAA, Olympic and WNBA champion — are Basketball Hall of Fame candidates for the Class of 2025. “It's about time” for Arison, said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who added that those like Hunter — with college, pro and Olympic titles — should be a Hall lock.
Key moment Oklahoma City trailed by three midway through the third quarter, then went on a 10-0 run to kickstart a finishing push. The Thunder were up by 11 entering the fourth.
Key stat Gilgeous-Alexander has scored at least 25 points in 17 consecutive games, the longest such streak in the NBA this season.
Up next The Thunder host Washington on Monday. The Heat are at Orlando on Saturday.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
OKCAC A. Caruso
AM A. Mitchell
AW A. Wiggins
CW C. Wallace
IH I. Hartenstein
IJ I. Joe
JW J. Williams
KW K. Williams
LD L. Dort
SG S. Gilgeous-Alexander
MIABA B. Adebayo
BU Butler
DR D. Robinson
DS D. Smith
HH H. Highsmith
JJ J. Jaquez Jr.
KL K. Love
NJ N. Jović
TH T. Herro
TR T. Rozier
OKC/MIA the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur