LOS ANGELES — Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 110-100 win over the Los Angeles Clippers (21-18) on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena to improve to 2-1 on their five-game West Coast trip.
The Heat (20-18) now remain in Los Angeles to take on the Lakers on Wednesday: Even after putting together arguably its best half of the season, Miami was part of yet another clutch game. But center Bam Adebayo made sure the Heat came away with the win.
The Heat’s offense was the story of the game early on, scoring 67 points on 56.8% shooting from the field, 9-of-22 shooting from 3-point range and 8-of-9 shooting from the foul line while committing only five turnovers in the first half to enter halftime with a commanding 18-point lead. Miami led by as many as 21 points in the first half.
But that momentum did not carry over into the third quarter, when the Clippers won the period 34-14 to completely erase the Heat’s big lead and enter the fourth quarter ahead by two points.
That 20-point turnaround had the Heat just looking to hang on for the victory in the fourth quarter. But just like Miami’s offense controlled the first two quarters, its defense controlled the game-deciding fourth quarter.
The Heat were able to escape with the victory despite giving up a 21-point lead because their defense limited the Clippers to just 17 points on 30.8% shooting from the field and 1-of-7 shooting (14.3%) shooting from 3-point range in the fourth quarter.
The Heat won the final period 29-17 to come away with the win. While the Heat had their ups and downs on Monday, Adebayo was a force throughout with 31 points on 12-of-19 shooting from the field and 7-of-8 shooting from the foul line and 13 rebounds. Eighteen of his 19 shots came from inside the paint.
Heat guard Tyler Herro contributed 23 points, seven rebounds and three assists. That helped make up for a quiet night from Heat leading scorer Jimmy Butler, who closed Monday’s win with nine points on 2-of-8 shooting from the field. But Butler did finish with six assists and two steals.
What was a double-digit lead at halftime turned out to be another close game for Miami, which has now been a part of a league-leading 26 clutch games. A clutch game is defined as a game that has a margin of five points or fewer inside the final five minutes of the fourth quarter.
But the bottom line is the Heat found a way to win and are now two games above .500 for the first time this season.
With forward Caleb Martin returning from a two-game absence stemming from a left quadriceps strain, the Heat were able to use their preferred starting lineup of Kyle Lowry, Herro, Butler, Martin and Adebayo on Monday for just the 13th time in the first 38 games of the season.
Injuries have limited the unit’s availability, but when this lineup has been available, it has been very effective. This five-man combination entered Monday outscoring opponents by an impressive 10.7 points per 100 possessions in 172 minutes together this season — a net rating that ranked eighth among all NBA lineups that had logged at least 150 minutes.
That trend didn’t continue on Monday, as the Heat’s starters were outscored by four points in their 12 minutes together against the Clippers.
The Heat’s bench has not been a strength this season, as it entered Monday averaging the second-fewest points in the NBA at 27.1 per game. But with the Heat’s starting lineup whole, so was the bench with Max Strus able to play as a reserve instead of a fill-in starter. Strus has needed to start 20 of the first 38 games this season because of the team’s injury issues.
Backup center Dewayne Dedmon was the only bench regular who was was not available on Monday after recently returning from the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
So on Monday, the Heat used a five-man bench rotation of Victor Oladipo, Orlando Robinson, Gabe Vincent, Duncan Robinson and Strus. They combined to outscore the Clippers’ reserves 39-33.
Oladipo followed up his season-high 23-point performance in Saturday’s win over the Utah Jazz with 15 points, five rebounds and four assists in Monday’s victory over the Clippers.
Orlando Robinson continued to provide solid minutes off the bench as the backup center in Dedmon’s absence with six points and six rebounds. Strus scored 13 off the bench.
Both of the Heat’s games against the Clippers this season did not include star Kawhi Leonard. That was good news for Miami because Los Angeles is a much lesser team without Leonard.
Leonard missed the Clippers’ game against the Heat in Miami on Dec. 8 because of right knee injury management and he was unavailable for the teams’ matchup in Los Angeles on Monday because of a non-COVID illness.
Los Angeles has posted an 11-5 record in the 16 games that Leonard has played compared to a 10-13 record without him this season. The Clippers have also outscored opponents by an eye-opening 11.7 points per 100 possessions with Leonard on the court this season for a net rating that would rank first among NBA teams for the season.
Without Leonard on the court, the Clippers have been outscored by 3.8 points per 100 possessions for an net rating that would rank 26th in the league for the season.
The Clippers started Terance Mann in Leonard’s place on Monday.
It’s been a very quiet road trip for Lowry. The Heat’s veteran starting point guard finished Monday’s win with six points on 2-of-6 shooting from the field. He has totaled just 14 points in the first three games of the Heat’s five-game trip. Lowry, 36, entered Monday averaging 13.8 points on 40.6% shooting from the field and 5.8 assists per game.
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