Miami ? Feasting on sub.-500 teams could be the Utah Jazz’s formula for a 20th consecutive postseason appearance. The lottery-bound Miami Heat didn’t deviate from the trend Monday night.

The Jazz took advantage of a Heat squad missing injured leading scorer Eddie Jones to defeat Miami, 83-73. Karl Malone scored 29 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Jazz, 20-7 against teams with losing records, but only 16-20 against winning teams.

The Jazz came off consecutive losses to Western Conference powers Dallas and Sacramento.

“Losing leaves a bad taste in your mouth, so this does not take the loss to Sacramento and Dallas away,” Malone said. “Everybody wants to talk about, ‘You played hard,’ but a loss is a loss.

“We got embarrassed in Dallas, so to bounce back and get the win, that’s what is important at this point.”

Matt Harpring added 17 points and John Stockton 14 as Utah bounced back from a 24-point loss Saturday at Dallas.

The Jazz avoided a third consecutive loss by taking an early lead against the Heat and never relinquishing it.

The Heat made it 80-73 on Malik Allen’s hook shot with 1:43 remaining, but could get no closer. Harpring made two free throws with a minute left, and Malone converted one of two free throws with 36 seconds remaining, securing the win.

“A win is a win, no matter how you look at it,” Harpring said. “A win over the Miami Heat is the same thing as a win over Dallas in the standings. We’ve got to win.

“There’s guys right behind us in the standings and, of course, there’s guys right ahead of us, too. So we’ve got to win.”

Utah's Karl Malone, center, goes for two of his 29 points as Miami's Caron Butler, left, and Mike James defend. The Jazz won, 83-73, Monday in Miami.

Miami (20-43) has lost four straight since Jones injured his ankle in practice.

Coach Pat Riley, who has had previous run-ins with officials this season, was ejected by referee Mark Wunderlich after Riley received his second technical foul of the game with 6:34 remaining in the third quarter. Riley was disputing a foul call on Brian Grant, who also was assessed a technical for arguing the call.

“We were passionate about trying to win the game,” Riley said. “Things were going the other way. It’s frustrating to me and it’s frustrating to my players.”

Hawks 95, Clippers 86

Atlanta — Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 11 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter for the Hawks. Dion Glover added 14 points as the Hawks put all their starters in double figures for the first time in 22 games. Abdur-Rahim also grabbed 15 rebounds. The Clippers have lost nine of 10. Corey Maggette scored 14 points in the first quarter, but cooled off after that, finishing with 19.

Timberwolves 92, Mavericks 83

Dallas — Kevin Garnett had 31 points and 18 rebounds, and Wally Szczerbiak scored eight straight points during a tight stretch in the fourth quarter. Dallas, the league’s highest-scoring team at 102.6 points per game, had a season-low 55 points after three quarters. Szczerbiak, who won the previous meeting last month with a buzzer-beating shot, scored 14 of his 27 points in the final 5:28.