Giannis, Thompson shine as Heat win

HEAT STARS ON FIRE: Antetokounmpo finished with 34 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists, while Klay Thompson scored 26 points with six three-pointers

Giannis Antetokounmpo on Saturday scored 34 points as the Miami Heat’s recent resurgence continued with a 137-117 upset of the Detroit Pistons.

Miami, who started the NBA campaign with a dismal four-game losing streak, improved to 7-6 to move above .500 for the first time this season with a burst of scoring either side of halftime.

After outscoring the Pistons 31-21 in the second quarter, Miami followed that up with 35 points in the third quarter to pull clear of the visitors.

Miami Heat forward Giannis Antetokounmpo watches his ball after shooting during their NBA match against the Detroit Pistons in Miami on Saturday.

Photo: AP

Antetokounmpo finished with 34 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists while off-season signing Klay Thompson drained six three-pointers on his way to 26 points.

Detroit star Cade Cunningham — who had scored 52 points in his previous outing on Thursday — led the Pistons with 33 points. Detroit fell to 8-4 after the loss.

“I’m in a great rhythm right now, and I’m gonna try and stay in it as much as I can,” Miami veteran Thompson said. “I’m having a great time on top of all that.”

Thompson’s flurry of threes included one directly after a superb between the legs no-look pass from Antetokounmpo that resembled an NFL snap.

“That was an incredible snap, long-snapper style,” Thompson said. “That was testament to Giannis’s skill level. People get enamored with his ability to dunk and run, but my goodness — he’s like magic at times with his vision. He just knew I was in the corner.”

The Chicago Bulls also enjoyed an upset victory, taking down the high-flying Minnesota Timberwolves 117-106 on the road in Minneapolis.

The Bulls grabbed only their third win of the season to improve to 3-9 against a Timberwolves line-up looking to extend a five-game winning streak.

Norman Powell scored 23 points with five rebounds and three assists while Matas Buzelis had 18 points. Buddy Hield impressed from the bench, draining four three-pointers in a 16-point haul, while Tre Jones also finished with 16.

In Cleveland, Tyrese Proctor’s triple-double helped the short-handed Cavaliers claim a 127-117 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

Proctor finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for a Cavaliers side missing their entire regular starting lineup, with the likes of Donovan Mitchell, James Harden and Jarrett Allen all rested due to the team’s travel delay caused by the nationwide grounding of flights in the US on Friday.

Proctor, whose points tally included four three-pointers, was backed by 22 points from Mario Hezonja while Meleek Thomas added 20 as the Cavs improved to 7-7.

Former Cleveland star Kyrie Irving led the Mavs scoring with 34 points — including seven three-pointers — with Cooper Flagg adding 18.