Shorthanded Miami Heat come up short vs Los Angeles Clippers

LOS ANGELES – It is difficult enough for Erik Spoelstra to admit his team doesn’t have enough. It is even tougher for the Miami Heat coach to acknowledge his team lacks enough on the defensive end.

With their wing defense emaciated by injuries, the Heat could not have picked a worse night to face the likes of Paul Geroge, Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Norman Powell.

So Los Angeles Clippers 121, Miami Heat 104 Monday night at Crypto.Com Arena, the Heat’s second consecutive loss in the wake of four consecutive wins.

Forced to turn to zone defense to compensate for the absences of Jimmy Butler, Haywood Highsmith, Caleb Martin and Josh Richardson, the Heat wound up being beaten over the top with 3-pointers and eventually also at the rim.

The Clippers closed 14 of 29 from beyond the arc, at .588 overall from the field.

It ultimately proved too much to overcome even with the Heat getting 21 points and 15 rebounds from Bam Adebayo, 17 points from Kevin Love, and 15 apiece from Duncan Robinson and from Jaime Jaquez Jr., in the former UCLA star’s return to Los Angeles.

The Clippers got 24 points from Leonard, 23 from George, 22 from Powell, needing just 15 from Harden and eight from Westbrook.

The Heat return to Crypto.Com Arena for a Wednesday night game against the Los Angeles Lakers, before closing out their five-game trip on Friday night against the Phoenix Suns.

Five Degrees of Heat from Monday night’s game:

1. Game flow: The Heat led 35-23 after the first period, ending the quarter on a 15-4 run. The Clippers then moved to a 59-58 lead at the half, extending their lead to 95-85 going into the fourth.

The Clippers then moved to a 16-point lead with 8:41 to play on a Leonard 3-pointer, with the Heat lacking the firepower to rally on a night Herro struggled from the field,  closing 4 of 13, albeit with six assists and six rebounds.

2. Another reshuffle: Make it 19 starting lineups for the Heat in their 33 games, including the second start of the season for Jamal Cain, who did not play until late in the third quarter of Saturday night’s loss in Utah.

Out of the starting lineup were Nikola Jovic and RJ Hampton, who both started Saturday against the Jazz.

Hampton was bumped by the return of Kyle Lowry, who sat two games due to a head contusion, with Jaquez taking the place of Jovic.

In addition to being without Butler for the fourth time in five games, this time due to a foot irritation, the Heat also were without Highsmith, due to the concussion sustained in the closing ticks Saturday night.

Remaining out were Martin (ankle) and Richardson (back).

3. Pushing forward: With the Heat reduced to starting Cain at power forward, Adebayo essentially stood alone for most of the game in the Heat’s power rotation.

Adebayo already was up to his fifth consecutive double-double by the opening minutes of the third quarter, compensating for uneven shooting from the field by working his way to the foul line, closed at 9 of 13 on free throws.

Love then added quality minutes off the bench in reserve of Adebayo, with the Heat immediately struggling when a brief move was made to Thomas Bryant at center in the second quarter.

It reached the point, in the deficit of so many wing players, that Spoelstra played Adebayo and Love together.

4. Celebratory (early) mode: Robinson was on the court in his pregame shooting routine while Michigan was closing out its overtime national-semifinal football victory over Alabama in the nearby Rose Bowl.

The former Wolverine then celebrated on the court with staffers as he returned to the locker room, emerging from there to score 11 first-quarter points, going 6 of 6 from the line in the period. His scoring then tapered off from there.

With Jaquez moved into the starting lineup, and with Martin and Richardson out, Robinson basically was the extent of the Heat second-unit wing offense, with Hampton the only other reserve wing utilized.

5. Kawhi time: While the Heat continue to deal with injuries, the Clippers did not have a single player unavailable Monday.

That meant a return of Leonard, who had missed the previous four games with a hip contusion.

In the wake of a series of injuries, Monday night was the first time Leonard played against the Heat since Feb. 5, 2020.

“I just look at his record,” Spoelstra said, when asked of changes in Leonard’s game in the interim. “So I don’t look at necessarily what’s changed. When he’s out on the court I think he’s one of the winningest players in league history during the regular season.”

Leonard closed 10 of 19 from the field, with six rebounds and five assists.