a first-innings lead against Andhra will ensure a quarter-final spot f

SALT LAKE CITY -- The Miami Heat have been one of the worst offensive teams in the league this season, ranked No. 27 in points per game. Offense, however, wasnt an issue Thursday night.Goran Dragic scored 27 points and the Heat continued to play better on the road with a 111-110 victory over the Utah Jazz.James Johnson scored a season-high 24 points off the bench and Wayne Ellington added 17 for the Heat, who have five of their seven wins on the road.That is a good defense to be able to do that against, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. Sometimes you need great players to make bigger plays against a good defense. That is what those guys are doing. Getting a little more organized offensively, the guys are getting a little more confident in their roles and simplify a bit.The Jazz had the ball with 3.9 seconds remaining and Gordon Hayward missed a contested midrange jumper before time expired.The Heat attacked the rim relentlessly throughout the game to score 64 points in the paint. The Jazz allowed a season-high 58 points in the paint to the Heat in mid-November.Hayward scored a season-high 32 points and added seven assists. Joe Johnson chipped in 18 points as the Jazz lost despite knocking down a franchise-record 17 3-pointers in 30 attempts.A 6-0 run to start the fourth quarter gave the Heat a 12-point lead and Miami barely hung on the rest of the way.It takes grit, Ellington said. It takes toughness and that is what we showed all night long.The Heat took a 52-48 lead into halftime thanks to a 19-2 run highlighted by eight points from Ellington. The Jazz answered with a 12-2 stretch to close the half.The Jazz came into the game allowing just 38.9 points per game in the paint, tied for No. 4 in the league.We were soft at the beginning of the game, Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. We didnt deserve to win the game. Miami outplayed us. By the time we woke up defensively, it was late and we had to expend a lot of energy. We lacked physicality, particularly in the first half.TIP-INSHeat: Josh Richardson did not travel due to a sprained right ankle. ... Dion Waiters missed his third consecutive game with a pectineus (groin) tear. ... Luke Babbit left the game in the second quarter with a right hip flexor and did not return.Jazz: George Hill did not play due to a sprained left big toe. ... Rodney Hood did not play due to hamstring injury. ... Joe Johnson, Boris Diaw and Dante Exum all started due to injuries. ... Snyder believed there should have been more than 3.9 seconds left for the final possession.DANTES INFERNOExum returned to the starting lineup with Hill out despite seeing the floor little recently. Exum had played less than nine minutes in the previous four games, including not playing at all Monday. Snyder said Exum isnt playing as much after starting 41 games as a rookie, in part, due to an improved roster. Still, Exum has struggled this season.Hes probably tired of me talking to him, Snyder said. You cant talk to a player every time theres any kind of change. ... By and large Id like to think our guys have a clear understanding of what we want from them individually and how that fits into what were trying to do as a team.Dantes going through some things right now that are akin to what a lot of people go through as a rookie. ... People just need to be patient and understand who he is and where he is. In a lot of ways hes better than he was his rookie year.QUOTABLEEverything weve been doing defensively, as far as executing our game plan, we didnt do tonight, Hayward said. You see what happened because of that. That has to be our calling card. It wasnt at all tonight.UP NEXTHeat: Miami travels to face an underachieving Trail Blazers team featuring Damon Lillard.Jazz: Utah hosts the Nuggets on Saturday. The teams have split their first two meetings this season. Air Jordan Scarpe Saldi . They reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in five games, bested the visiting Trail Blazers by 34 in the paint and scored 19 of the final 25 points in regulation. Scarpe Jordan Uomo Scontate . Oaklands loss to Seattle clinched the ALs best record for the Red Sox with one day to spare in the regular season. "I think everybody was kind of watching," catcher David Ross said. "Demp (Ryan Dempster) came out before he went to the bullpen and was just yelling that they lost. http://www.airjordanscontate.it/ . Robredo, ranked No. 16, bounced back from an upset loss to Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Royal Guard Open in Chile last week to down Carreno Busta in 1 hour, 25 minutes. On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance. Jordan Scarpe Sconti . The judges scored it 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 for Jones (19-1). It was the champions closest call. Despite the loss, it was a remarkable show by the confident Swedish challenger, who had the best of the early rounds and then hung on in the fourth and fifth. Scarpe Jordan Ingrosso . "Were just throwing s--- at the wall hoping something sticks," said Tortorella about the possible line combinations for Fridays game against Columbus. The Canucks have lost five straight games and six of their last seven, leaving them in a logjam in the Pacific Division, currently sitting fifth - good for ninth in the Western Conference. The ninth and final round of the Ranji Trophy begins on December 7, with five quarter-final spots up for grabs. Mumbai, Jharkhand and Karnataka are assured of a knockout berth, irrespective of how they fare in their last league game.If teams were to be tied on points, which is very much a possibility across groups, the team with most outright wins will progress. If teams were to be tied on outright wins too, the team with the superior net-run-rate will qualify. We take a look at who has the best chance to join the three sides and complete the line-up for the quarter-finals starting December 24.Group AWith 29 points in seven matches, Mumbai are assured of a quarter-final spot, irrespective of the result in their last round game against Punjab. Gujarat, who it appeared had the advantage of knowing their equation going into their final game against Bengal, are still handily placed with 25 points after the BCCI awarded both sides one point each for the New Delhi clash that was originally postponed because of smog.While a first-innings lead or more against TN will see them through, there is also a possibility of them qualifying even if they concede a lead. They may, however, not want to go down that route.TN would like to ensure qualification through an outright win over Gujarat. They could get through to the quarter-finals even with a first-innings lead over Gujarat. But should MP beat Bengal with a bonus point it would be down to net-run-rate between Gujarat and them. In such a case MP would qualify along with Mumbai, leaving TN and Gujarat in a net-run-rate battle for the one remaining spot.Bengal have to win and hope there is an outright result between TN and Gujarat, while Punjab have to win with a bonus point and hope for two other results to go their way.Theres also a battle for relegation lower down. Railways will be relegated if there is no outright winner in the Baroda-Uttar Pradesh clash in Nasik. An outright loss to UP will mean Baroda will be relegated to Group C. If UP lose outright by a considerable margin, there is a possibility of their net-run-rate falling below Railways, which will lead them to relegation.GGroup BJharkhand and Karnataka, currently the top two sides, are through, leaving Odisha, Delhi and Maharashtra in a three-way race for the final qualification spot.dddddddddddd. All three teams ideally need to win outright to control their fate.A bonus-point win for Odisha in their postponed clash against Jharkhand will see them through irrespective of other results. If they just manage a win, they can qualify if Delhi and Maharashtra dont beat Saurashtra and Karnataka respectively with a bonus point. Delhi and Maharashtra, currently tied on 21 points, will be involved in a net-run-rate battle for qualification if they both win or take a first-innings lead, provided Odisha loses outright.With no matches left and currently placed at the bottom, Assam, semi-finalists of the 2015-16 season, will be relegated to Group C. Group CThree successive wins have meant Hyderabad have come storming back to top the group. At least a first-innings lead against Andhra will ensure a quarter-final spot for the first time since 2011-12. They can, however, ill-afford an outright loss, as it could give way to Haryana and Andhra qualifying should they win. Andhra too, ideally, need to win, but they can progress on the basis of a first-innings lead should Haryana and Kerala lose.Haryana, tied with Andhra on 25, need to win as a first-innings lied that could tie them on points with Andhra, may not be enough since they have just two outright wins to Andhras three. Kerala, meanwhile, will need to win outright and then hope Andhra and Haryana lose to qualify. Goa, with 18, can at best get to 25, but with their net-run-rate in the negatives, they are all but out barring a massive win and several other results going their way.Note: A tie in any of the final round games hasnt been accounted for. Only one match in the tournaments 83-year history has ended in a tie.10.20GMT: The scenarios have been tweaked to reflect BCCIs decision to award Bengal, Gujarat, Hyderabad and Tripura one point each for their cancelled fixtures. ' ' '