MIAMI (AP) — Anfernee Simons scored 24 points, Deandre Ayton had 22 points and 15 rebounds, and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Miami Heat 116-107 on Tuesday night.
Jerami Grant finished with 18 points and Deni Avdija added 16 for the Blazers, who lost by 60 the last time they played in Miami on March 29.
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Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) stands on the court during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Portland Trail Blazers, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant (9) attempts a 3-pointer as Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) defends during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant (9) reacts during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Portland Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson (00) and Miami Heat guard Jaime Jaquez Jr., right, go for a loose ball during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons (1) goes for a loose ball against Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier (2) defends against Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Shaedon Sharpe had 12 points while Scoot Henderson and Dalano Banton finished with 11 each.
Rookie Kel’el Ware had 20 points and 16 rebounds and Duncan Robinson finished with 22 points for the Heat, playing without leading scorer Tyler Herro, who missed his first game of the season because of groin tightness. Jimmy Butler had 13.
The Blazers extended a six-point lead early in the third period with a 21-8 run. Ayton scored eight points during the surge that put Portland ahead 86-63.
Down 21 early in the fourth, the Heat narrowed the gap with a 19-4 run. Jaime Jaquez’s two free throws with 1:58 remaining got Miami within 112-105 before Grant made three of four free throws to give Portland a 115-105 lead with 35 seconds left.
Trail Blazers: Didn’t commit their first turnover until Henderson’s errant pass with 8:11 remaining in the third quarter. It was the first time they didn’t commit a turnover in a half since Jan. 16, 2019 against Cleveland.
Heat: After making 5 of 7 3-pointers in the first period the Heat then missed 19 straight from behind the arc. Ware’s 3-pointer with 3:13 remaining in the third quarter ended the drought.
Grant’s 3-pointer and Ayton’s layup in the final minute of the first half gave the Blazers the lead for good at 61-55.
The Blazers made 6 of 12 3-pointers in the third period that helped build largest lead at 92-65.
The Trail Blazers visit Orlando while the Heat play at Milwaukee, both on Thursday night.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) stands on the court during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Portland Trail Blazers, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant (9) attempts a 3-pointer as Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) defends during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant (9) reacts during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Portland Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson (00) and Miami Heat guard Jaime Jaquez Jr., right, go for a loose ball during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons (1) goes for a loose ball against Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier (2) defends against Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
ST. LOUIS (AP) — World champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates will anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics in less than a month.
Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men's gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.
Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa Liu and women's teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national title.
U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.
"I'm just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment," Malinin said. “Hopefully go for that Olympic gold.”
Malinin will be joined on the men's side by Andrew Torgashev, the all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the 24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late parents by making the Olympic team.
Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were returning from a talent camp in Kansas when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. One of the last conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.
“We absolutely did it,” Naumov said. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It's what I've been thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I can't put this into words.”
Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four years ago, but they finished fourth — one spot out of the medals — in the ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal at three straight Grand Prix Finals.
U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik also made the dance team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira, who became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came through, and Anthony Ponomarenko.
Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.
Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women's medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.
Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.
"This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,” said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.
The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the U.S. silver medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.
The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators, she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.
“The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most important milestones in an athlete's life,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said, "and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules, there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account as we make decisions and what's best going forward from a selection process.
“Sometimes these aren't easy," Farrell said, “and this is not the fun part.”
The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful American team.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Amber Glenn competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Alysa Liu skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Maxim Naumov skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the "Making the Team" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Gold medalist Ilia Malinin arrives for the metal ceremony after the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
