The LA Clippers fell behind early, then rallied back, but ended up dropping their third straight game, 110-100 to the visiting Miami Heat.
Summary
The Clippers returned home for a brief one game before they hit the road again, and they found themselves trailing 34-28 at the end of the first quarter due to turnover issues that the Heat were able to capitalize off of.
The second quarter, however, was where things got out of control for the Clippers. They were able to to tie the game at 40, before Miami used an 11-2 run to take a double-digit lead at 53-42. The lead would continue to grow as the Heat run would eventually reach 24-4. Bam Adebayo was critical during that stretch for the Heat with his activity around the basket. By the time halftime rolled around, the Clippers trailed 67-49 and this one looked like it would be over early.
But if there’s one thing this Clipper team has shown over the past couple of seasons, it’s that they’re never out of a game and seemingly no lead is insurmountable for them. Sure enough, the Clippers struck first in the third quarter with renewed energy. The Clipper defense was what started the push, combined with being much more assertive and aggressive on the offensive end. By the eight minute mark of the third quarter, the Clippers were already in the bonus.
A quick three-point barrage, three of them from Paul George and one from Marcus Morris saw the Clippers surge ahead, 77-75, and heading into the fourth and final quarter, they were up 83-81.
Unfortunately, the wheels fell off again in the 4th quarter. While the starters managed to get the Clippers back into the game, the decision by Tyronn Lue to ride the bench for a long stretch didn’t have the desired effect. It allowed Miami to regain the lead and never look back. A Luke Kennard three did bring the Clippers to within 96-95, but the Heat used a 7-0 run to regain control.
After the game, Lue defended his decision to keep the bench in, and use the three-guard lineup of John Wall, Norman Powell and Luke Kennard for a large portion of the fourth quarter.
“The starting unit did a good job in the third quarter to get us back in the game, and then we brought in the bench who did some good things. But that small lineup, it’s just tough for us to rebound the basketball and get stops when we need to,” Lue said. “Everybody plays the whole third quarter so you got to bring five fresh guys in at the same time pretty much to start the fourth and that could have hurt us a little bit.”
One player in particular who was instrumental in helping the Clippers get back into the game was Terance Mann. Mann got the start in place of Kawhi Leonard who was out due to a non-Covid illness. Mann has seen his minutes fluctuate this season, but overall he has been solid with a unique skill-set that few other players on the team bring.
Against the Heat, Mann finished with nine points and five rebounds and provided much needed energy. Despite that, he didn’t play at all in the fourth quarter until there was only about one minute to go. Lue mentioned postgame that Mann had to get a breather at some point and Mann himself said that his minutes being up and down is just something that’s kind of happened and a part of the process of the team trying to figure out lineups.
Mann also acknowledged that the team is still trying to figure out what it is they need to do to play more consistently and start stringing together some wins.
“You got to win some games and figure it out as we go. We’re professional basketball players, we’ve been doing this for a long time,” Mann said. “We just got to figure out how to win games. I don’t know what exactly that is, I don’t know if that’s on the offensive or defensive end, whatever it is we just got to figure it out.”
Notes
The Clippers will await word on Paul George who tweaked the same hamstring that gave him issues earlier this season. He went back to the locker room at the end of the third quarter and he ultimately made his way back to the bench and re-entered the game. Postgame, he acknowledged it was the same hamstring strain that kept him out for seven games already and that he will wait and see how he feels this week with treatment.