Sports Gambling – Los Angeles Clippers vs Sacramento Kings, De’Aaron Fox, LaMelo Ball, Charlotte Hornets vs Washington Wizards, New York Knicks vs Miami Heat, Utah Jazz vs Indiana Pacers, Boston Celtics vs Phoenix Suns

KNICKS’ BARRETT PROBLEM EXPOSED AS MIAMI ROLL ON

The Miami Heat have now won two-straight as they look to put a slow start to the season behind them.

The Heat took down the New York Knicks 109-103 as RJ Barrett struggled and was benched in the fourth quarter, finishing with three points.

For the Knicks, Julius Randle poured in 26 points and added 12 rebounds and seven assists.

Reggie Bullock was on fire from 3-point range, knocking in seven 3s, for 21 points.

But New York (11-14) showed they can’t win unless Barrett is a major factor, and he was a no-show.

Barrett played just 19 minutes and shot 1 of 6 as the Knicks had their two-game winning streak snapped. Barrett was scoreless in the first half.

Miami’s Tyler Herro came down and iced the win with a 3-pointer with 33 second left as Miami reversed some recent bad fortunes to move to 9-14.

Bullock, who has started all 20 games he’s played, banged in six 3-pointers in the first half on eight attempts.

Bullock was the recipient of a handful of passes from Randle out of the double team.

The Knicks tied a season-high with 17 3s, but it wasn’t enough as they scored just 44 points in the second half.

Miami’s Kendrick Nunn, an undrafted guard, led the Heat with 14 first-half points — making 4 of 5 3-pointers.

The Knicks have used the same starting line-up 20 times — tops in the league for continuity.

By contrast, Miami has had 16 different starting line-ups because of injuries and COVID-19 contact tracing.

Before the game, Thibodeau raved about his former player, Jimmy Butler, who finished with 17 points.

He said the Heat were struggling because of Butler’s assorted injuries and other COVID-19 absences. The Heat are now 6-5 with Butler and 3-9 without.

– New York Post

BRIDGES AND BOOKER LEAD THE WAY AS SUNS DOWN CELTICS

Phoenix swingman Mikal Bridges led a balanced attack with 19 points and nine rebounds to power the host Suns over Boston 100-91 for a fifth win in six games.

Devin Booker added 18 points and 11 assists while Bahamas center DeAndre Ayton netted 16 points and pulled down 11 rebounds for the Suns (13-9).

Jayson Tatum scored 23 points on 8-of-22 shooting to lead the Celtics (12-10). The Suns welcomed spectators to their game for the first time this season as 1,500 healthcare workers were invited to attend under health and safety guidelines that included social distancing and face masks.

“That’s the one thing that everybody has missed is the fans in the building,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. “It’s just not the same.”

MITCHELL, GOBERT DOUBLE-DOUBLE IN JAZZ WIN

Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points, passed off 11 assists and grabbed nine rebounds to spark the NBA-best Utah Jazz to their fourth straight victory on Sunday, beating Indiana 103-95.

Mitchell matched a career high in assists but just missed a triple double as Utah won for the 15th time in 16 games while the Pacers lost for the fifth time in six starts.

“My mind wasn’t really on that at the end of the day,” Mitchell said of a triple double. “I’m just trying to go out there and find ways to impact the game.” The Jazz, who improved to 19-5 with the road triumph, also had 18 points from Croatian forward Bojan Bogdanovic, 16 points and 16 rebounds from French center Rudy Gobert and 17 points off the bench by guard Jordan Clarkson.

“There were times we were tired, there were times we had to dig deep but we did it collectively and I think that’s the biggest thing,” Mitchell said.

Indiana fell to 12-12 with a third consecutive loss despite 20 points by Lithuanian forward Domantas Sabonis, who fouled out in the fourth quarter after hitting only 7-of-19 from the floor thanks to Gobert’s good defense.

“My goal is to make sure they don’t score,” Gobert said. “It’s on me to make sure they take the toughest shot possible and if they make it, they make it.” De’Aaron Fox scored 36 points on 15-of-25 shooting to spark the Sacramento Kings to their fourth consecutive triumph, a 113-110 road victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Lou Williams and Nicolas Batum missed tying 3-point attempts in the dying seconds and Kings guard Buddy Hield added the last of his 22 points on two free throws with 8.3 seconds remaining to seal the win by Sacramento (12-11).

Williams had 23 points off the bench to lead the Clippers (17-8) while Kawhi Leonard had 20 and 10 rebounds.

Miami center Bam Adebayo scored 24 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to lead six double-digit scorers for the Heat in a 109-103 triumph at New York.

Jimmy Butler added 17 points for Miami (9-14) despite 3-of-11 shooting, going 11-of-12 at the free throw line.

Julius Randle had game highs of 26 points and 13 rebounds in a losing cause for the Knicks (11-14).

Multiple media reports Sunday said the Detroit Pistons traded veteran guard Derrick Rose — second in scoring among NBA reserves — to the Knicks, where he will reunite with coach Tom Thibodeau after the two were paired previously in Chicago and Minnesota.

The Pistons would land guard Dennis Smith Jr and a second-round pick in this year’s NBA Draft in return for Rose, who is averaging 14.2 points, 4.2 assists and 1.9 rebounds a game.