Takeaways from win over Clippers, as Heat strengthens hold on first place in East
Three-point shooting has been a strength for the Miami Heat this season.
Friday night’s 121-114 win over the Los Angeles Clippers (25-26) at FTX Arena was further proof of that, as the Heat (32-17) finished 15 of 34 (44.1 percent) from three-point range to outscore the Clippers 45-27 from beyond the arc.
The Heat, which remains in first place in the Eastern Conference, has won 18 of its past 24 games and improved to 18-5 at home this season. With the Chicago Bulls falling to the San Antonio Spurs on Friday, the Heat is now 1.5 games ahead of the second-place Bulls in the East standings.
The Heat exploded to shoot 9 of 14 on threes in the third quarter to pull ahead by as many as 23 points in the period.
But the Clippers didn’t go away quietly, totaling 69 points on 52 percent shooting in the second half to cut the Heat’s lead to four with 33.9 seconds left. That’s the closest Los Angeles got, as Jimmy Butler was then intentionally fouled and made two free throws to extend Miami’s lead to six with 28.6 seconds to play.
“I just think these experiences for our ball club are really important to go through,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “The guys’ hearts are in the right place. From our perspective, we didn’t feel like we played well once we had that lead. But again, I think you have to credit the other side for a lot of that.”
Although the Clippers made the Heat sweat, Los Angeles’ final lead of the game came at 6-4.
All five Heat starters finished with double-digit points.
Butler again led the way, finishing with 26 points with the help of 16-of-16 shooting from the foul line, six rebounds, nine assists and three steals.
The duo of Gabe Vincent (23 points) and Duncan Robinson (16 points) was the driving force behind the Heat’s three-point effort, combining to shoot 11 of 19 (57.9 percent) from deep.
Bam Adebayo contributed 20 points, 12 rebounds and four assists. P.J. Tucker recorded 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 shooting on threes, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
The Clippers, which continued to play without injured stars Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, were led by Luke Kennard’s 23 points. He scored 21 in the second half.
The Heat is right back at it Saturday against the Toronto Raptors (8 p.m., Bally Sports Sun) to complete the back-to-back set and close a four-game homestand. Miami is looking to clinch a perfect 4-0 homestand.
Here are five takeaways from the Heat’s win over the Clippers:
When the Heat makes a high percentage of its threes, it very rarely loses.
That was again the case Friday, as the Heat improved to 19-1 this season when shooting better than 40 percent from three-point range. Miami’s only loss when it has hit that threshold was a seven-point defeat to the Golden State Warriors on Jan. 3.
On Friday, the Heat shot only 4 of 14 from deep in the first half but finished above 40 percent after shooting 11 of 20 (55 percent) from three-point range in the second half.
The Heat has now shot better than 40 percent on threes in three straight games.
With three-pointers seemingly an important part of the Heat’s winning formula, it’s noteworthy that Miami has been the NBA’s best outside shooting team this season.
The Heat holds the league’s top team three-point percentage (37.8 percent) this season.
Robinson is still hot.
Robinson finished Friday’s win with 16 points on 4-of-7 shooting from deep.
Over the last four games, Robinson has shot 22 of 39 (56.4 percent) from three-point range.
In 25 games since the start of December, Robinson has shot 40.9 percent on threes.
After a slow start that included a few long shooting slumps, Robinson’s three-point percentage currently stands at 37 percent.
Robinson shot better than 40 percent on threes in each of the previous two seasons. He still has some work to do to get there, but he’s certainly trending in the right direction.
With Kyle Lowry still out because of personal reasons, Vincent continues to impress as the Heat’s fill-in starter at point guard.
Vincent recorded 23 points while shooting 8 of 15 from the field and 7 of 12 from three-point range in Friday’s win. He tied a career-high with seven made threes, a number he also reached when he hit seven threes in a Dec. 15 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
“It was fun,” Vincent said. “I didn’t even know I put up 12 threes. ... Jimmy was drawing a lot of attention and I just took my shots as they came. As they started to fall, I started to look for them more and more.”
Vincent’s most memorable stretch of Friday’s game came when he hit six threes and assisted on a Robinson three-pointer in the first 6:22 of the third quarter.
Vincent totaled 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting from deep in the third quarter, finishing one three-pointer short of tying the Heat record for threes made in a period. Robinson holds the record with seven threes, a feat he has accomplished twice.
In the six games that Lowry has missed because of personal reasons, Vincent has averaged 13.7 points while shooting 43.9 percent on 6.8 three-point attempts per game and five assists. The Heat is 5-1 in those games.
“He has just grown so much,” Spoelstra said of Vincent. “Then when you have nights like this when you really need his scoring, well you just rewind to who he used to be. But now he has added so many other dimensions to his game. He’s just a really tough hard-nosed defender that can guard multiple positions. But now he can organize your offense for you. I feel very comfortable when Gabe is running the offense that he can get the ball where it needs to go.”
The Heat’s defense has looked better since Adebayo returned from injury last week. But the Clippers’ offense had success in the second half.
With Adebayo’s unique versatility allowing the Heat to return to its switch-heavy defense, Miami owns the NBA’s sixth-best defensive rating (allowing 106.9 points per 100 possessions) over the last six games since Adebayo’s return from thumb surgery.
The Heat put together another excellent defensive performance early. Los Angeles totaled just 45 points on 35.7 percent shooting from the field and 2-of-16 (12.5 percent) shooting on threes in the first half.
But the Clippers scored 69 points on 52 percent shooting in the second half with the help of 34 paint points
“I’d like to see that consistency throughout the game, where we can defend,” Spoelstra said. “It’s not a matter of effort or lack of focus. I just think we need to clean up a few things, particularly keeping teams off the foul line.”
With Adebayo on the court this season, the Heat’s defense has been elite with a defensive rating of 103.5 points allowed per 100 possessions. Miami has allowed 108.4 points per 100 possessions when Adebayo hasn’t been on the court.
“I think it does matter having Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo back out there. They just make us much different,” Spoelstra said. “We’re very unique with both those guys. I thought it was good for us to go through that development period where we had to go to other things without them. But Bam allows us to do a lot of dynamic things. And Jimmy on the weakside is special.”
It should be noted that the Heat’s defense wasn’t bad while Adebayo was sidelined, it just wasn’t great. Miami posted the NBA’s 12th-best defensive rating during the seven weeks that Adebayo missed, allowing 109.8 points per 100 possessions over 22 games.
Nearly two years after the Heat traded him, Justise Winslow finally made his return to Miami.
The Heat traded Winslow, 25, to the Memphis Grizzlies in February 2020 and he signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the Clippers as a free agent this past offseason. Injuries limited Winslow to just 26 games last season with the Grizzlies, and right thigh soreness kept him out of Memphis’ game in Miami.
But Winslow was available for Friday’s matchup at FTX Arena. It marked his third game against the Heat since the trade, but his first in Miami against his former team.
Winslow finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in 26 minutes off the bench.
“This is probably a day that I will never forget,” Winslow said. “Even more so than playing here, my son. This was his first game tonight. Baby Nico, we are going to remember this day. No words can really describe having your son at his first game, seeing him in the stands. So I’m kind of speechless.”
Winslow, who was drafted by the Heat with the 10th overall pick in 2015, entered Friday averaging 3.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 34 games (one start) with the Clippers this season. He appeared in 241 regular-season games (105 starts) in five seasons with the Heat before he was moved to the Grizzlies.
“He’s very talented,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said of Winslow before Friday’s game. “He’s a great defender, can guard one through five. But also rebounding the basketball, pushing and attacking in transition and making plays for other guys because he can really pass the basketball.”
This story was originally published January 28, 2022 at 10:42 PM.
