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Adebayo scores 29, Heat waste 20-point lead before rallying to top Suns 127-121

MIAMI (AP) — Bam Adebayo scored 29 points, including three long jumpers in the final minutes, and Norman Powell added 27 as the Miami Heat squandered a 20-point lead before recovering to beat the Phoenix Suns 127-121 on Tuesday night.

Powell hit a 3-pointer with 48 seconds left to put Miami ahead for good, and Andrew Wiggins made a pair of free throws to seal the game after Phoenix’s Dillon Brooks was called for a flagrant foul with 11.5 seconds remaining.

Adebayo pushed his career total to 9,461 points — two more than Alonzo Mourning for No. 2 on Miami’s list, with Dwyane Wade’s 21,556 points the franchise record. Tyler Herro scored 23 for Miami, which snapped a three-game slide.

Brooks and Grayson Allen each scored 25 for Phoenix, which had won three straight. Devin Booker finished with 24 points, nine rebounds and nine assists for the Suns, while Mark Williams added 18 points and 14 rebounds.

Phoenix was trying to overcome a 20-point deficit for the second time this season; the Suns trailed by 20 to Sacramento on opening night. They’re now 0-11 in games in which they trailed by at least 20 since, but had a chance on Tuesday.

The Heat led by 20 after Herro made a 3-pointer on the opening possession of the second half, and the lead was still 17 when Booker was called for an offensive foul with 9:17 left in the third quarter — a play that the Suns challenged.

They won the challenge, and the game immediately changed.

Booker made the two free throws that got awarded instead, starting what became a 13-0 run. A three-point play by Oso Ighodaro with 0.1 seconds left in the third tied the game at 92, and a 3-pointer by Collin Gillespie with 9:13 left gave the Suns their first lead of the night.

Phoenix led by as many as six in the final minutes, before Adebayo and Powell sparked the Heat comeback.

Up next

Suns: Visit Detroit on Thursday.

Heat: Host Boston on Thursday.

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AP NBA: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NBA

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