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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
MIAMI (AP) -- The Miami Heat didn't change much this past
offseason. Except for Jamal Mashburn's role.
|  | | Jamal Mashburn led the Heat with 23 points. |
Mashburn, who entered the game second on the team in scoring
with a 19.9 average, scored eight of his 23 points during a key
second half spurt as the Heat beat the Boston Celtics, 110-92
Saturday night.
"We worked all summer on my game, especially offensively,"
said Mashburn, whose style is better suited to the more open game
dictated by this year's rule changes. "My first few years here,
they tried to make me a back-down, inside player. This year's tempo
benefits me."
Alonzo Mourning added 22 points for the Heat, who had lost their
three previous games against Boston. Antoine Walker led the Celtics
with 18.
Miami coach Pat Riley, whose team is off to a franchise best 8-2
start of the season, agreed that a new approach has produced
dramatic results in Mashburn.
"He's not the power player I tried to make him," Riley said.
"His game is running, slashing, and driving the basketball."
Mashburn, who has been hampered by injuries the last two
seasons, credits the rules changes as a factor in his emergence.
"This is how basketball should be played," he said. "It had
become a bully game, an ugly game. It should be a skill game and if
you can't touch anybody, it's tough to stop players that like to
create."
Boston coach Rick Pitino, who coached Mashburn in college at
Kentucky, also praised his former player.
"Jamal Mashburn is a great basketball player," Pitino said. "He's one of the best small forwards in the league."
After Boston cut a 9-point third quarter deficit to four,
Mashburn scored eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers,
during a 18-6 run that put Miami up, 85-69, with 10:56 left in the
game.
Dan Majerle helped spark the rally with two assists, one on a
Mashburn 3-pointer, a pair of steals and a dunk with .4 seconds
left in the third period.
Miami maintained a comfortable lead the rest of the way, thanks
in part to 13 points over the final 3:12 by Voshon Lenard,
including three 3-pointers.
Game notes
With his first assist, after 1:19 of play, Miami's Tim
Hardaway became the 22nd player in NBA history to record 6,000
career assists. ... The Heat's Clarence Weatherspoon, who has a strained left hamstring, did not dress for the game, missing his
third straight contest. ... Miami's Anthony Carter returned to action after missing three games with a sprained right ankle. ...
Boston's Calbert Cheaney sat out his sixth straight contest with a sprained right ankle. ... Boston's Paul Pierce has scored in double
figures in 23 straight games. ... Adrian Griffin of the Celtics scored nine points in the game's first 3:31.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Boston Clubhouse
Miami Clubhouse
RECAPS
LA Clippers 98
Washington 89
Orlando 107
Atlanta 103
Portland 100
Charlotte 96
Indiana 107
Cleveland 98
Miami 110
Boston 92
Philadelphia 100
New Jersey 96
Utah 111
Milwaukee 100
San Antonio 106
Dallas 90
Denver 95
Chicago 86
Seattle 110
Houston 107
New York 86
Golden State 79
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