SALT LAKE CITY _ The options were dwindling by the minute. Justise Winslow, Dion Waiters and Josh Richardson already were back in South Florida. Derrick Williams couldn't make it out of the locker room because of back spasms. And Luke Babbitt joined him there by the end of the first quarter due to a hip flexor.
But with their play, Goran Dragic, James Johnson and Wayne Ellington said enough was enough, even on a night Hassan Whiteside wasn't his typical dominant self.
So, through it all, the Heat found their way to a 111-110 victory Thursday night over the Utah Jazz, despite a season-high 32 points from Jazz forward Gordon Hayward.
Dragic led the Heat with 27 points, supported by 24 from James Johnson and 17 from Ellington, on a night Whiteside closed with nine points and 10 rebounds.
The game ended off a Jazz inbounds play with 3.9 seconds to play, with Utah down one, with Hayward off with a short jumper and a Rudy Gobert putback attempt ruled too late.
The Heat pushed to a 105-96 lead midway through the fourth quarter. But as they had done the entire night, the Jazz offered their own pushback, closing within 105-101, boosted by a 3-pointer from former Heat forward Joe Johnson.
Later, a driving layup by Joe Ingles allowed the Jazz to close within 107-105 with 2:48 to play.
Dragic replied with a running jumper on the other end, but a Joe Johnson 3-pointer with 2:09 left draw the Jazz within 109-108.
That's when James Johnson soared for a dunk and a 111-108 Heat lead with 1:44 left.
But back came Hayward with an 18-foot jumper with 1 minute left to bring Utah within 111-110.
Misses on each end followed.
Finally, with 13.2 seconds left in the game and eight seconds left on the shot clock, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called time out, with the Heat up one.
Dragic then appeared to find an open Whiteside in the lane, but Whiteside fumbled the pass, with Dragic cited for the turnover.
That left the Jazz in possession down one with 3.9 seconds to play, the game in the balance.
A 6-0 start to the fourth quarter allowed the Heat to push to an 89-77 lead. But the Jazz immediately responded with an 8-0 surge to pull within 89-85, leading to a Heat timeout with nine minutes to play.
With Babbitt out due to his hip flexor that would not allow him to continue, Ellington was with the starters to open the third period. The Jazz then pushed to a one-point lead before an 8-0 run, sparked by the activity of Tyler Johnson, gave the Heat a 68-61 lead.
The Heat then went into the fourth quarter up 83-77, with James Johnson up to 18 points by that stage, Ellington at 17.
The Heat went up 14 late in the second period, but the Jazz closed the quarter with a 12-2 run to move within 52-48 at the intermission.
Ellington was up to 14 points and James Johnson to 10 at that stage for the Heat, a juncture when Whiteside had only two points on 1-of-7 shooting. Also, Josh McRoberts already was at a season-high six points by halftime for the Heat.
Behind 10 first-quarter points from Hayward, the Jazz took a 27-26 lead into the second period. Utah was bolstered by 4-of-8 3-point shooting in the first period, with the Heat 1 of 2 from beyond the arc to that stage. The Heat compensated with 18 points in the paint in the first period.
The injury absences had the Heat opening for the second consecutive night with a lineup of Whiteside at center, McRoberts and Babbitt at forward, and Dragic and Rodney McGruder at guard.
Babbitt then retreated to the locker room in the opening period, after running stiffly through his initial shift, diagnosed with a hip flexor that had him out the balance of the night and possibly longer.
The Jazz also were short-handed, lacking their starting backcourt of George Hill and Rodney Hood, as well as starting power forward Derrick Favors.
The Jazz won the first game of the two-game season series 102-91 Nov. 12 at AmericanAirlines Arena, behind 25 points from Hayward and 12 points and 12 rebounds from Gobert, in a game the Heat were without Dragic and the Jazz were without Hill and Diaw
The Heat entered having lost four of the previous six meetings and four of their previous five visits to Salt Lake City.
The game was the second stop on a three-game trip that concludes Saturday against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center, part of a stretch of 10 of 13 on the road.
