Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 140-123 win over the Los Angeles Clippers (5-16) on Monday night at Kaseya Center to close its four-game homestand at 3-1. The Heat (14-7) now hits the road to begin a two-game trip on Wednesday against the Mavericks in Dallas:
The Heat earned a bounce-back win after Saturday’s loss to the Detroit Pistons, dominating the struggling Clippers with another explosive offensive performance.
On the way to a 17-point blowout win over the Clippers, the Heat totaled 140 points on 53 percent shooting from the field and 24-of-46 (52.2 percent) shooting from three-point range.
The Heat tied its franchise record for three-point makes in a game with 24 on Monday. Miami also made 24 threes in a Dec. 14, 2022 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder and a Dec. 4, 2024 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
After the Clippers pulled ahead by two points with 6:36 left in the second quarter, the Heat broke open the game behind an eye-opening 30-2 run to turn that two-point deficit into a 26-point advantage with 1:08 left in the first half. The Heat ended up going into halftime with a 76-56 lead.
The Heat’s offensive surge continued in the second half, beginning the third quarter on a 36-18 run to extend its lead to 38 points.
The Heat never looked back, outscoring the Clippers 72-27 from three-point range in the lopsided win. Los Angeles shot just 9 of 29 (31 percent) from behind the arc.
The Clippers made a made late run to cut the deficit to 12 points in the final minutes, but it was too late after the Heat led by as many as 38 points in the second half.
There were standout performances throughout the Heat’s rotation.
Norman Powell, who was traded by the Clippers to the Heat this past offseason, finished with a team-high 30 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the field and 6-of-10 shooting on threes, three rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block.
Bam Adebayo recorded 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field and 5-of-8 shooting on threes, 14 rebounds, three asissts and two blocks. Adebayo’s five three-point makes are a new career-high for a game.
Tyler Herro added 22 points, three rebounds and two assists.
Andrew Wiggins contributed 22 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three blocks.
Davion Mitchell contributed 16 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 shooting on threes, three rebounds, 12 assists and two steals. He committed just two turnovers.
Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with a game-high 36 points.
While the Heat has now won seven of its last eight games, the Clippers have lost 14 of their last 16 games. The Heat also improved to 10-2 at Kaseya Center after finishing last regular season with a 19-22 home record.
The Heat stuck with the same starting lineup despite the group’s rough results through its first two games together.
With Herro making his season debut last week after offseason ankle surgery, Monday marked the third straight game that the Heat has used the starting lineup of Mitchell, Herro, Powell, Wiggins and Adebayo.
The first two games didn’t go well, as this five-man combination was outscored by 16.5 points per 100 possessions in their first two starts.
But this lineup’s third game together was much better.
The Heat began the game by building a 17-11 lead before making its first substitution of the night.
The Heat’s starters then opened the second half on a 24-8 run before Miami’s first substitution of the third quarter.
All five Heat starters finished with double-digit points.
“You have to prioritize whatever is best for the team to win,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said when asked what his basing his lineup decisions on at this point of the season. “But I also am treating it that the combinations and the players will let me know. And I don’t feel stressed out that I have to have all those answers right now.”
Jaime Jaquez Jr. returned to his sixth man role for the Heat after missing the last game with a strained groin.
Jaquez, who established himself as one of the early favorites for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award this season, was back in the mix for the Heat after missing his first game of the season in Saturday’s loss to the Pistons.
Following Jaquez’s one-game absence, he showed some signs of rust. He recorded four points on 2-of-10 shooting from the field, four rebounds and five assists in 21 minutes.
Jaquez was part of a five-man Heat bench rotation that also included Dru Smith, Pelle Larsson, Kel’el Ware and Simone Fontecchio. Miami then emptied its bench late in the lopsided contest.
Larsson left Monday’s game early with a sprained right foot and did not return.
Larsson totaled five points, one rebound and two assists in eight minutes off the bench before exiting the contest with an injured foot. He never returned to the game.
If Larsson is forced to miss extended time, it would leave a void in the Heat’s rotation. Larsson has played in each of the Heat’s first 21 games this season and logged double-digit minutes in 17 straight games before leaving Monday’s contest early.
With Jaquez back, forward Nikola Jovic again found himself out of the Heat’s rotation.
After playing in each of the first 14 games he was available for this season, Jovic has now been out of the rotation in two of the last three games. He received his first DNP-CD (did not play, coach’s decision) of the season in Wednesday’s win over the Milwaukee Bucks and then only entered Monday’s victory over the Clippers 53.7 seconds left in the rout.
This is just part of Jovic’s rough start to the season, as he has gone from starting in the opener to the fringes of the rotation.
Jovic, who signed a four-year, $62.4 million extension with the Heat in October, has scored single-digit points in 11 of his 15 appearances this season. He’s also averaging a team-high 4.3 turnovers per 100 possessions this season.
Jovic, who is in his fourth NBA season after being taken by the Heat with the 27th pick in the first round of the 2022 Draft, now finds himself again working to prove to Heat coaches that he deserves consistent playing time.
The Heat only had two unavailable players — Keshad Johnson (illness) and Terry Rozier (not with team) — on Monday.
The Clippers were without Bradley Beal (left hip fracture), Bogdan Bogdanovic (left hip contusion), Derrick Jones Jr. (right knee sprain) and Jahmyl Telfort (G League) against the Heat.