The Miami Heat was able to pull out a win against the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday, even though they was outscored 35-15 in the fourth quarter. It was all Miami through the first three quarters.
Hassan Whiteside continued to own the paint for Miami as he delivered 21 points and grabbed 17 rebounds. Of course it wouldn’t be a Whiteside party of there wasn’t any blocks, and Whiteside had two poster worthy blocks. Other than Whiteside, Miami's other big men have not lightened the load, combining for just 5 points and 7 boards in comparison. Kelly Olynyk did defend the paint well enough when Whiteside was on the bench.
Miami’s guard/forward play has proven once again that you will have to slow them down, aside of Whiteside, if you want to have any chance of beating the Miami Heat. A good trait for a playoff caliber team. I don’t even know where to start…We can look at Tyler Johnson who scored 19 points and dished 3 assists, and got 3 steals. And did I mention, through Spoelstra strategy, he did this while coming off the bench.
How about Wayne Ellington(we haven’t even talked the starters yet), who came off the bench to spare 27 minutes overall and going 5-9 in three point attempts on his way to a 17 point night out. Then of course there is “the Dragon”, Goran Dragic. Dragic only scored 12 points but that included 6 assists as he was the leader of the offense as always and created enough plays for his teammates to capitalize on. Dion Waiters did not play due to the birth of his newborn daughter(congratulations) and players like Ellington, Richardson, and Johnnson(Tyler) picked up the slack.
If we consider James Johnson a guard based on his dribbling and scoring ability(I definitely do), he added to Miami’s backcourt assault adding on 5 assists and 14 points. And no, I couldn’t forget about one of my favorite players, Josh Richardson or Mr. Consistency. Richardson went something like 14 points, 4 assist, and 3 steals. Last week, Erik Spoelstra compared Richardson to former Heat star Dwayne Wade after a win over the Hawks. “He was great defensively. Those are the type of plays at the rim we had a former two-guard here make, those kind of blocks.”, said Spoelstra referring to how Wade use to make aggressive defensive stops at and above the rim. Spoelstra continued, “there’s just not many twos in the league that can make those kind of plays and then guard one through four.” Richardson has been an valuable part of t Miami Heat's offense since being drafted in 2015.
The Los Angeles Clippers have been a playoff caliber team for several years and will be for time to come. Even with the departure of Chris Paul, the Clippers still show that they are a fast pace, aggressive, and coachable team. So the fourth quarter run wasn’t no surprise. Lead by all-star Blake Griffin, the Clippers mounted a successful come back in the fourth. But thanks to two free throws by James Johnson and a big defensive contest by Whiteside on Griffin, Miami walked out of L.A. with a another win. I would like to see Miami close such games with out the late game dramatics.
None the less, as the saying goes, “a win is a win”. The Miami Heat are facing another tough challenge out the western conference as they take a short road trip from L.A. to Oakland and face the defending champions, the Golden State Warriors.
Miami Heat @ Golden State Warriors
Monday November 6, 2017
Game covered on FOX Sports Sun
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