Despite starting lineup change, Heat unravels in fourth quarter of loss to Clippers

The Miami Heat got off to an increasingly rare strong start Wednesday against the Los Angeles Clippers, but it wouldn’t last. The Heat’s offense unraveled in the second half and an early eight-point lead evaporated into a 111-99 loss to the Clippers at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Miami (22-24) scored just 18 points in the third quarter, then 27 in a garbage-time fourth. Tobias Harris, Los Angeles’ potential All-Star forward, led the way with 31 points, but 22 of those came in the first half. The Clippers (26-22) pulled away with defense and a balanced scoring effort — just the formula the Heat likes to use when it’s playing its best.

No other Los Angeles player scored more than 16 points and the Clippers held Miami to 47 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from three-point range. Center Hassan Whiteside led the Heat with 22 points and 16 rebounds, but went 2 of 5 from the free-throw line in Miami. As a team, the Heat shot just 13 of 21 from the stripe.

A small tweak to the starting lineup let Miami start off well. The Heat moved swingman Rodney McGruder to the bench for the first time this season, replacing him with guard Tyler Johnson to go along with combo guard Josh Richardson, point forward Justise Winslow, forward James Johnson and Whiteside. After the previous starting five posted a plus-minus of minus-36 in the Heat’s last 10 games, Miami’s starters Wednesday led the Heat to an 18-16 lead. Miami scored 54 points in the first half and went into the break tied.

With 3:36 left in the third quarter, a dunk by Richardson pulled Miami within 69-68, then the offense stagnated. The Heat scored just six points in the next 7:55 — all by post player Bam Adebayo — as the Clippers stretched their lead to 88-74. Miami never got Los Angeles’ lead back down to single digits and the Heat dropped two games below .500 for the first time in more than a month.

This story was originally published January 23, 2019 at 9:52 PM.