INGLEWOOD — Clippers coach Tyronn Lue had hoped his players would remember the words printed on the coaches’ training camp shirts. A motto that was repeated daily during the early days of the season, a message about getting back on defense and preventing opponents from scoring in transition.
It took just three minutes into Monday’s game against the younger and faster Miami Heat for those words to sink in and then the Clippers seemingly forgot them in a tight 120-119 loss on Monday night at Intuit Dome.
James Harden made two costly turnovers that Bam Adebayo turned into a pull-up jumper and two free throws to give the Heat a 120-116 lead with 57 seconds to play.
Harden redeemed himself with a 25-foot 3-pointer to pull the Clippers to within 120-119 with 19 seconds left. After a jump ball, Kawhi Leonard got one final attempt at another game-winner but his 26-foot step-back 3-point attempt bounced off the rim.
Lue said before the game that the only way to slow the Heat, outside of tying their shoelaces together, was to remember how to play defense. Miami is the fastest team in the league based on possessions.
“You got to get back and get your defense set because they are attacking, they’re playing fast,” Lue said. “And so that’s been one of my Achilles heels getting (the team) back in transition. But tonight, we got to make sure we do that.”
For a while, that worked. They scored 11 fast-break points in the first half off opportunities created largely by their defense and led, 71-66, at halftime.
At the intermission, Miami coach Erik Spoelstra made adjustments on defense, and the Heat came out playing more aggressively at that end of the court. Turnovers mounted and the Heat found openings inside that enabled them to build a 91-81 lead with 5:29 left in the third quarter and take a 103-95 lead into the final period.
Lue put in his second unit, along with Harden, to start the fourth and that lineup reeled off a 7-2 run to tie the score at 105-all. It was close down the stretch as neither team could get a solid hold on the lead.
The Clippers (3-3) are going to need a tougher defensive mindset Tuesday when they face the unbeaten Oklahoma City Thunder (7-0) on the second night of a back-to-back set.
Offense wasn’t a problem for the Clippers against Miami. Leonard, who made the game-winning shot against the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night, scored 27 points and had four rebounds and four assists, while Harden had 29 points and eight assists.
Derrick Jones Jr. again made an impact at both ends of the court with 12 points to go along with three rebounds, one blocked shot and one steal, and Ivica Zubac posted nine points and 18 rebounds.
Bradley Beal also scored in double figures (12 points), but none of that was enough to combat the Heat’s speed, youth and defense. The Clippers had 21 turnovers that the Heat turned into 37 points.
The game marked the return of fan favorite Noman Powell, who was traded to the Heat in a three-team deal that brought John Collins to the Clippers and helped create salary cap space to sign Beal. Powell hugged his former teammates before tipoff before getting five quick points that helped the Heat to an early 10-point lead.
Powell finished with 21 points, while Andrew Wiggins had 17 and Kel’el Ware added 16 for the Heat, who shot 54.2% from the floor and made 12 of their 25 3-point attempts to 50% for the Clippers, who were 17 for 41 from long range.
The Heat, who lost to the Lakers the previous night, improved to 4-3.
“I’d rather score 89 points a game and have a winning record,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said of the Heat’s pace. “I think people are making a much bigger deal about it.”
Still, the Heat didn’t waste any time showing how their younger roster has seemingly revolutionized the offensive side of the ball. Miami, which leads the league in pace (based on the number of possessions), jumped out to a 12-2 lead in a blur.
It took a few minutes for them to get their bearings, but the Clippers eventually picked up their own pace and closed the gap, taking their first lead (18-15) at the 7:10 mark of the first quarter.
And once the Clippers, who ranked last in pace (95.4), figured out how to navigate the Heat’s defense, they kept the arena from turning into a Miami runway and reeled off an 11-6 run – powered by eight points by Jones – to take a 60-54 lead with 4:18 left in the first half.
More to come on this story.