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Thompson 3-pointer salvages night for Heat in OT victory over Clippers
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- Thompson 3-pointer salvages night for Heat in OT victory over Clippers
LOS ANGELES — The celebration was more of a playoff moment in April or May or even June.
It also was a moment desperately, desperately needed by the Miami Heat.
Finally a hero for the Heat this season, with Klay Thompson draining a game-winning 3-pointer off an inbounds play with 3.3 seconds to play and the Heat down two.
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So, for a night, misery stepped aside, and instead a 117-116 overtime victory Wednesday night over the Los Angeles Clippers at Intuit Dome.
"I can't lie to you," Thompson said, "it felt really good."
Indeed, for a night, a 3-5 record never felt as good.
"The guys earned their ice," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We haven't really earned our ice many times."
Once again, the easy button again was missing.
So even against an opponent that entered 1-6, nothing was a given Wednesday night.
This time it was an early 20-point deficit, early defense that mirrored the first-half atrociousness of two nights earlier, and numerous late opportunities squandered.
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No matter, not with Thompson draining his desperately needed 3-pointer, closing with 30 points, on a night that Heat also got 35 points from Bam Adebayo and 27 from Giannis Antetokounmpo.
"We just really wanted to try to prove to ourselves that we can do something tough," Spoelstra said, with that mission accomplished.
"Now that we've won three of our last four," Thompson said, "we can really build off something."
Five Degrees of Heat from Wednesday night's game:
1. Game flow:The Heat led 33-24 after the first quarter, forcing seven Clippers turnovers in the period, only to see that evaporate to a 67-52 deficit at halftime.
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That came after the Heat gave up a 79-point first half across town in Monday night's loss to the Lakers.
From there, the Heat clawed back within 75-69 with 5:46 to left in the third quarter, only to see former Heat guard Max Strus convert a pair of 3-pointers.
The Heat went into the fourth down 87-78.
Eventually, the Heat moved ahead 105-104 on an Adebayo jumper with 1:53 to play in regulation, but Darius Garland countered with a layup with 1:32 to play in regulation for a one-point Clippers lead.
Wild scrambles followed on both ends, before it wound up with Antetokounmpo at the line with 10.8 seconds to play in regulation and the Heat down 106-105.
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He made both free throws to put the Heat back up one.
The Clippers then called time, advanced the ball, drawing an apparent foul on Pelle Larsson with 2.7 seconds to play in the fourth. Spoelstra challenged the call, with the foul instead charged to Adebayo.
The upshot was a successful challenge, but with Clippers forward Rui Hachimura still going to the line.
Hachimura missed the first free throw, but made the second to tie it 107-107.
The Heat then cycled through their final two timeouts, with Adebayo off with a foul-line jumper at the regulation buzzer.
"As soon as that left my hand, I was like, 'Ah, it's good,'" Adebayo said.
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It wasn't.
2. Overtime:The Clippers opened overtime with a pair of Garland free throws that were matched by a pair of Antetokounmpo free throws.
A Garland 3-pointer then put the Clippers up three, with Thompson's seventh 3-pointer of the night tying it 112-112 with 2:12 to play.
Consecutive Garland baskets followed for a 116-112 Clippers lead,
Adebayo got the Heat back within 116-114 with a jumper with 64 seconds to play, but Mitchell was off on a 3-point attempt after a Strus miss.
After a defensive stop, the Heat called time down two with 3.3 seconds to play, with Thompson stepping up, off a screen set by Adebayo, off an assist from Antetokoiunmpo.
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"Man, you know, screeners don't usually get a lot of credit," Adebayo said, "but that's probably my best screen, for sure.
"My biggest thing was to make sure he got open."
Mission accomplished.
"I felt like I had so much space, and I'm not going to say it's an easy shot for me, but I've taken so many thousands of corner threes, especially in the left corner," Thompson said. "For a right-handed shooter, it's probably the easiest shot from the perimeter on the court for a righty like myself and I just got my feet down and planted and I took it and it just felt really good off my fingertips."
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Antetokounmpo did his part with the winning assist.
"Great play, drawn by Coach Spo," he said, "Great screen by Bam. And great shot by Klay. Bam was able to get him wide open, delivered the ball to him, and he was able to knock down the shot."
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3. Awful second:Not only did the Clippers outscore the Heat 43-19 in the second period, but at one stage the Clippers' surge in the quarter reached 39-10.
The Clippers shot .727 from the field in the second period (16 of 22), including .615 (8 of 13) on 3-pointers.
All the while, the Heat shot 1 of 9 on 3-pointers in the second quarter, with the lone 3-point conversion coming on Thompson's only shot of the period.
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Larsson was -24 in the quarter, while Clippers rookie guard Keaton Wagler was +27 in the period.
The period was an example of the worst of the Heat.
"We've got to step up our game, we've got to be more physical, we've got to be violent, try to make multiple efforts," Antetokounmpo said. "We came up in the third quarter, the fourth quarter, and the trust was there."
4. Klay time:Asked pregame about Thompson's perceived early-season struggles, Spoelstra was quick to note Thompson was at .411 on 3-pointers entering the night.
"He's shooting 40 percent, so if that's not starting well, we'll take it," Spoelstra said.
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Thompson then opened 3 of 4 on 3-pointers, leading all scorers with 11 first-quarter points.
Thompson stood 4 of 5 on 3-pointers at halftime, with the rest of the Heat roster 1 of 12 at that stage.
He kept going from there.
"I thought I took all great looks tonight," he said, closing 8 of 17 from beyond the arc.
Of the game, Thompson said, "It was gritty. It wasn't pretty, but it was nice to gut it out because we've kind of been in the mud to start the season."
5. Bam's barrage:While the game did not answer the question of whether Adebayo and Antetokounmpo can get it done while playing together, Adebayo showed that he can remain an imposing inside force.
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This time he was up to 19 points by halftime, at a stage when Antetokounmpo had eight.
"My teammates was feeding me the ball, and I got it going early," Adebayo said. "And the rest is history."
Antetokounmpo at several stages could be seen grabbing at his right wrist. He had been listed as probable going into the game, due to the right wrist sprain he played through in Monday night's loss to the Lakers.
Then, as Adebayo sat at the start of the fourth quarter, Antetokounmpo finally got his own rhythm, with the two playing side by side at the close.
