MIAMI —Norman Powell scored 30 points against his former team and Bam Adebayo had 27 points and 14 rebounds in 32 minutes as the Miami Heat downed the reeling Clippers 140-123 on Monday night.
Tyler Herro and Andrew Wiggins each scored 22 for the Heat, who trailed by two early in the second quarter before going on a 30-2 run. Miami also hit 24 three-pointers, tying a franchise record.
Miami (14-7) went on a 12-0 run in the first 2:02 of the third quarter, all on three-pointers, two of them by Adebayo. That turned a 20-point halftime lead into a 32-point advantage and the outcome was never in doubt again.
Kawhi Leonard scored 36 and Ivica Zubac finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Clippers. They started the season 3-2 and have gone 2-14 since, falling to 5-16 — the worst 21-game start for the franchise since a 4-17 beginning to the 2010-11 season.
James Harden scored 11 points for the Clippers in 20 minutes, and didn’t play in the final 22:34. The Clippers were outscored by 39 points when he was on the floor.
Powell had 11 points in the 30-2 spurt, one where Miami shot nine for 12 while the Clippers missed all 11 of their shots. Back-to-back threes by Powell finished off the run.
The Clippers made things a bit interesting in the fourth, with Leonard scoring 19 points in the quarter and getting his team within 12 with two minutes left. But Miami scored the next nine points — a three-point play by Herro, then three-pointers from Powell and Wiggins to put the game away.
It was Miami’s fifth 140-point game this season, after reaching the mark eight times in the franchise’s first 37 seasons.
Up next for the Clippers: at Atlanta on Wednesday.