Miami looks set to stay positive for good. After their victory on the wire in Utah, the Heat chained a second success in a row, the fourth in five games, on the floor of Clippers (100-110) deprived of Kawhi Leonard (sick).
The Floridians have once again proven that they can win without relying on an immense offensive production from Jimmy Butler, or even from Kyle Lowry. Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro thus ensured, first to offer up to 21 points in advance to their team in the first period. And then to better address the “money time” where the Clippers, no doubt worn out by the return to the score after the break, ran out of juice to finish.
For them, this is their third loss in a row.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– Change of mood after the break. After 15 perfectly balanced first minutes (40-40), Miami took control of the game in spectacular fashion. With a Tyler Herro on fire from 3-pointers in transition, a stifling defense on the Clippers, Paul George in particular, the Heat went 27-6 (46-67) in seven minutes to return very quietly to the locker room. When we saw Ivica Zubac miss a finish in the circle on the counterattack at the break, we wondered what the second period of the Clippers was going to look like… In fact, the locals took up the same recipe as their opponents. Relying on a big defense, they derailed the Florida attack and Paul George was responsible for lighting at 3-pointers. 12 minutes from the end, everything had to be redone (83-81).
– Los Angeles still dominated below. Ivica Zubac had just taken his 4th then 5th personal foul, in quick succession, pushing Tyronn Lue to put him back on his bench, five minutes from the end of the game. A few following possessions, Bam Adebayo took advantage of the holes in the Clippers’ racket to sign a dunk tap and offer his team a three-possession lead. This streak illustrates Miami’s interior dominance over Los Angeles, which resulted in 20 more points scored in the racket (48-28) and 14 more rebounds captured (48-34).
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro. If the second was especially the man of the second quarter of the Heat and finished with the best ratio +/- (+23), the first was the man of a whole meeting. With Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry little concerned in attack, the pivot put his team on his broad shoulders. The last quarter bears its mark with no less than four successful dunks and… another one missed.
✅ Victor Oladipo. Like Tyler Herro, he struggled to find the target in the second half. But the rear substitute finally makes a good copy by touching a bit of everything. And above all by signing a big game in defense, like his last quarter marked by an interception on John Wall, benefiting Gabe Vincent on the counter-attack, or by his passage provoked in front of Norman Powell.
✅ Paul George. Very struggling in the first period against the very physical defense of the Heat, “PG” was able to react in the third act by focusing on the 3-point shot. He finished top scorer in his training and best passer of the game.
⛔ Norman Powell. A forced shot to obtain, in vain, the three free throws, another missed shot in the corner while being open, an offensive foul in transition… This is the summary of the fourth quarter of the substitute, who did not have much brighter in the rest of the game. After 12 games in a row at 10 points or more, he has a second game under 10 points.
LET’S GO HEAT!
Heat fans are definitely everywhere. The end of the match, which turned to the advantage of the visitors, was marked by chants in their favor, descending from the spans of the Crypto.com Arena.
THE FOLLOWING
Clippers (21-18) : trip to the Nuggets, Thursday.
Heat (20-18) : trip to the Lakers, Wednesday.
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