March 27 (UPI) -- The Miami Heat lost to the Orlando Magic, but managed to submit a pair of devastating dunks, courtesy of Josh Richardson and Derrick Jones Jr.
Richardson's rim-rocker came in the first quarter of the 104-99 setback Tuesday at AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami. The Heat guard/forward passed off to Bam Adebayo at the start of that sequence. Richardson then slashed toward the rim, before getting a feed back from Adebayo.
Richardson outpaced two Magic defenders before Aaron Gordon slid over to block his path. Gordon elevated at the same time as Richardson, but was too far under the rim to reject the strong finish. Richardson pulled the ball back and smashed it through the rim with both hands, giving Miami an early 12-5 lead.
Jones' finish came with much more power. The Heat's best dunker got some major air-time in the second quarter. Heat guard Dion Waiters tossed a pass out to Jones at the top of the 3-point arc. Jones flew by his defender and took one step into the paint before taking off.
He put the ball in his left hand before throwing it forward for a huge finish over Magic 7-footer Nikola Vucevic.
Richardson scored 17 points while Jones scored nine points for the Heat. Waiters scored a game-high 26 points in the loss. Vucevic recovered from the posterization by netting 24 points and pulling down 16 rebounds for the Magic.
The Heat host the Dallas Mavericks at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Miami. Orlando battles the Detroit Pistons at 7 p.m. Thursday in Detroit.
