Trail Blazers Top Heat 127-110 Despite Adebayo's 32 Points

The Miami Heat fell to the Portland Trail Blazers 127-110 on Thursday night at Moda Center, dropping to 1-2 on their five-game Western Conference road trip despite a dominant scoring performance from center Bam Adebayo.

Adebayo led all scorers with 32 points, including 17 in the first half on efficient 6-of-12 shooting, much of it generated off the dribble against Portland rookie Donovan Clingan. He added six rebounds and finished 6-for-7 from two-point range, exploiting Clingan's positioning to draw fouls and hit short pull-up jumpers. The Heat trailed by seven at halftime and by as many as 21 in the third quarter before mounting a 10-0 run to close the gap to 11 entering the fourth. However, Portland pulled away late, capitalizing on Miami's cold shooting from beyond the arc.

The Blazers, who entered the game shooting a league-worst 33.8 percent from the field, shot lights-out from three-point range, connecting on 20 of 50 attempts. They jumped to a 38-31 lead after the first quarter, using isolation attacks and pick-and-roll dives to expose Miami's one-on-one defense. Portland forward Deni Avdija contributed 20 points in 18 minutes before exiting in the third quarter with a...