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Clippers vs. Heat Recap: Starting the New Year right
The LA Clippers overcame a slow start to roll to a 121-104 win against the Miami Heat.
Summary
There’s one thing that’s for certain in the NBA, no matter how short-handed the Miami Heat are, they’re going to play hard and they’re going to put up a fight.
That was the case on New Year’s Day as the visitors didn’t look fazed at all rolling to a 35-23 lead after the first quarter.
The Heat lead by as many as 14, 41-27, before the Clippers began to crawl their way back into the game. The Heat’s zone defense gave the Clippers problems early on, but they figured it out in the second quarter.
Powered by Kawhi Leonard and Norman Powell, the Clippers erased the Heat’s 14 point lead using an 8-1 run early in the quarter and then a 10-0 late in the quarter.
After missing his first two shots, Leonard hit five straight as the Clippers surged back into the game. Along with Powell bringing a spark off the bench, the two combined to outscore the Heat’s entire team, 24-23 in the second quarter.
It was Leonard’s first game back after missing the previous four due to a hip injury he reaggravated back on Dec. 20 against the Dallas Mavericks. He finished with a game-high 24 points
“He felt good. Early on, just trying to ease into the game, just trying to feel it out,” Clipper head coach Tyronn Lue said after the game. “I thought he did a good job in the second quarter just trying to catch his rhythm, get into his spots, knocking down shots. In the second half it was really good to see him get going.”
While the third quarter started off as a see-saw battle, the Clippers began to pull away late and took a double-digit lead, 95-85 heading into the final period.
The fourth quarter saw the Clippers begin to pour it on. They built a 106-90 lead, saw the Heat get within 106-94, and then put the game away for good.
“For the most part after that first quarter, I thought we did a good job just adjusting and tweaking what we wanted to do offensively. We still could have made quicker decisions,” Lue said. “It was good for us to see that tonight just because we got to get better at playing against the zone anyway.”
Clippers vs. Heat Recap: Starting the New Year right
David Yapkowitz