Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Clippers top Heat
100-93 defeat not just loss; it’s a cry for help, Dave Hyde says.
MIAMI — With every reason to give him the rest of the night off, the Los Angeles Clippers stood by their big man Sunday at American-Airlines Arena. The Miami Heat sat theirs. Clippers 100, Heat 93. No, Super Bowl Sunday could not be reduced to the simple equation of DeAndre Jordan being on the court for the Clippers at the finish and Hassan Whiteside watching the entire fourth quarter from the Heat bench, but it was an undeniable factor.
As Heat guard Dwyane Wade noted of Jordan’s defensive presence at the close, “He messes a lot of things up and he keeps you off balance.”
So even with Jordan 3-of-14 from the foul line, with the Heat relentlessly intentionally fouling earlier, Clippers coach Doc Rivers turned late to his big man. The payoff was a pair of Jordan alley-oop dunks and defensive mayhem from a Clippers team lacking sidelined forward Blake Griffin.
As for Whiteside, already with a double-double despite again being utilized off the bench, he was pulled with 1:50 to play in the third period. For good.
“The offense needed a little punch and it seemed like that group was doing OK,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of closing with Chris Bosh at center.
“Hassan turned his ankle, and that was part of it.”
For his part, Whiteside said he was good to go, his night ending with 10 points and 10 rebounds in 16 minutes, 56 seconds.
“I’m fine,” Whiteside said. “I’m tough.” And perplexed. “It was surprising,” he said of sitting at the finish, “but ain’t nothing I could do about it.”
He said he has moved beyond a stop in the coach’s office. “There’s no reason to keep talking about it. I’m just gonna play.
“I’m not talking to coach about it. We’ve talked about it so many times.”
As for the play beyond the lane, the late scoring of Clippers guards Chris Paul and Jamal Crawford proved too much for the Heat, with Paul scoring eight of his 22 points in the fourth and Crawford 11 of his 20 in the period.
Ultimately, the Clippers could not make a shot early, but they made all they needed late, shooting 59 percent in the fourth quarter.
Despite missing 14 consecutive shots at the outset after making their first, the Clippers wound up outshooting the Heat 46 percent to 40 percent.
Wade, Bosh and Goran Dragic each scored 17 for the Heat, with forward Luol Deng adding 15.
“They did to us what we have been doing to other teams the last few games,” Spoelstra said, “just grinding an opponent. And they made the bigger plays down the stretch.”
It was as if the Clippers eventually figured out with their offense what the Heat couldn’t solve with theirs.
“They did a great job defensively,” Bosh said. “I didn’t know what they were doing. They always were a step ahead of us.”
After both teams intentionally fouled the opposing center earlier, Spoelstra elected not to intentionally foul when Jordan returned with 8:18 to play. Jordan did not attempt a free throw in the fourth quarter, as the Heat defended him with Bosh.
“We thought we had the momentum in the game,” Spoelstra said, with the Heat down eight when Jordan returned. By rule a team can intentionally foul without additional consequence until two minutes remain.
“In hindsight,” Spoelstra said, “we probably should have fouled him.”
After the Heat trailed by 12 earlier in the fourth quarter, a 3-pointer by Bosh off a Wade assist drew the Heat within 86-83, with 4:34 to play. But Paul two possessions later then stepped up with a 3-pointer dagger late in the shot-clock to put the Clippers up 90-83 and another to make it 93-85.
That second Paul 3-pointer was matched by a Dragic 3-pointer, only to have Jordan convert an alley-oop dunk for a 95-88 Clippers lead with 2:11 left.
A Wade turnover and Crawford 3-pointer later and it essentially was over.
“I think they’ve figured out the way they want to play,” Bosh said of the Clippers closing it out.
After playing hack-aDe-Andre for three successive possessions in the third period, the Heat went from their first double-digit deficit to within six. They closed the period down 73-65, after Jordan was removed.
Only to return and make a difference, as Whiteside looked on.
“I really give credit to DeAndre,” Wade said. “He really makes sure you protect the paint, and for his ability to switch out on to guards, too.
“A lot of credit goes to him for the way he defended us.”
For their part, the Heat went without a blocked shot one game after Whiteside had 10 in a road victory over the Charlotte Hornets.
“We had quite a few breakdowns,” Spoelstra said.